REMINDER: Informational Meeting on Tentative Bargaining Agreement, Thursday 7/6/23, 9:30-10:30
7/5/2023
Dear FSU Member,
This is a reminder that the next step in the bargaining process is for members to vote on whether to ratify the tentative agreement (see here and below for a summary of the tentative agreement). Before the vote, we will hold an informational meeting TOMORROW Thursday, July 6 from 9:30-10:30am on Zoom (contact FSU or the Core Bargaining Team for Zoom information).) for members who wish to learn more and ask questions about the tentative agreement. Of course, you may email us too with any questions.
An online ratification vote will be held from Friday, July 7 to Mon, July 10. Members will receive an email from the FSU Elections Committee with details on ratification (the vote will occur on Qualtrics; please be sure to check your spam folder on the 7th if you do not receive the ratification info in your inbox). Please note that only FSU members in good standing will be allowed to participate in the ratification vote.
Sincerely,
Core Bargaining Team
Caroline Coscia, Political Science, Senior Lecturer II
Katie D’Urso, MTA Field Representative
Ellen Frank, Economics Department, Senior Lecturer
Jessica Holden, Healey Library, Librarian III
Lorenzo Nencioli, FSU Senior Staff Member
Jason Rodriquez, Sociology Department, Associate Professor
Brian White, Biology Department, Associate Professor
For information on the FSU, links to our contract and bargaining updates, and a calendar of events, see the FSU webpage
Great news: we have reached a tentative agreement with the Administration on a contract for the 2023-2024 academic year (see here for the previous update on bargaining). Here is a summary of the agreement:
- A 4% raise effective July 1, 2023 for all tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty at the rank of Lecturer and above, and librarians in the bargaining unit.
- An additional 4% raise effective the first pay period of January 2024 for all tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty at the rank of Lecturer and above, and librarians in the bargaining unit.
Distribution of the $391K pool is as follows:
- Increase the fall/spring per course rate for Associate Lecturers and Clinical Associate Lecturer from $5,350 to $5,500 ($206K total)
- Increase the summer/winter per course rate from $5,100 to $5,500 ($150K total)
- Increase of $20,000 for the anti-racism grant funds (for more on this, see Article 26.6.1.b.2 of the 20-23 contract)
- Increase of $1,000 to the base salary of all librarians ($15K total)
We are pleased with the outcome of these negotiations, but we did not get everything we wanted and recognize that the course rate for Associate Lecturers/Clinical Associate Lecturers and the summer/winter course rate remain much lower than they should be. The scope of these negotiations was narrow and the amount of money to be allocated was fixed.
The next step in the bargaining process is for members to vote on whether to ratify the tentative agreement. Before the vote, we will hold an informational meeting on Thursday, July 6 from 9:30-10:30am on Zoom (https://umassboston.zoom.us/j/96537515402) for members who wish to learn more and ask questions about the tentative agreement. Of course, you may email us too with any questions. An online ratification vote will be held from Friday, July 7 to Tues, July 11. Stay tuned for details.