Bargaining Update 8/25/22

Dear Union Siblings:

We have an important update about contract negotiations. As you know, our team has been attending MERC mediation with the University’s negotiating team each day this week. In our view, the mediation process has not been successful. In the past four days, we have not received a single counter-proposal to our offers on areas of compensation, benefits, and shared governance. Because of the University’s intransigence, we have only been able to resolve a few issues that we believe should have been uncontentious. Tonight we were informed that the University will continue in its refusal to negotiate economic terms indefinitely.

Pursuant to EMU-AAUP’s policies and procedures, our negotiating team has therefore requested that the EMU-AAUP Executive Committee to hold a membership vote authorizing the negotiating team to use the threat of a strike at the negotiating table in order to put pressure on the administration to negotiate. This is not yet a strike vote and will not authorize any work stoppage. It is only to allow us to threaten the possibility of a strike.  If that threat fails, there will need to be a second vote to authorize any strike.

We want to make clear that at the table we have presented reasonable proposals. Our initial proposal called for a 9.5% increase in faculty compensation, which—when factoring in the bonus we received last year—is in effect only a 7.5% increase in compensation, and a 4.5% raise for three additional years. We then received the counter from the University, which included a raise which would keep compensation flat the first year, and 2.0% raises for the next four years. We then modified our proposal to include a 7.0% increase to compensation the first year and dropped our request for a 4.5% raise in the final year of the contract. Given inflation, and raises given to similar bargaining units, these amounts are a more than reasonable offer. 

The University has, however, refused to negotiate. After we countered by reducing our demands, we asked for a response. The University refused to provide a counter to our reduced demand, and instead requested MERC mediation. However, at mediation, they simply continued in their refusal to counter our proposal. We thus see that we have no option other than to seek authorization to threaten a strike at the table.

We do not take this step lightly. We have tried repeatedly to negotiate in good faith, and to encourage the University to discuss our proposals. They have refused. If we felt the University was actually trying to settle this contract prior to the deadline, we would not be taking this step. 

If you have any questions about this process, please reach out to your union steward. We also encourage younger faculty members to reach out to senior faculty who have been involved in previous contract negotiations which involved a work stoppage. 

In solidarity,

EMU-AAUP Negotiation Team