Bargaining Update 8/27/22
Dear Union Siblings:
We have another important update for you from the negotiating team. As most of you know, tonight we held a general membership meeting at which our membership voted 97% in favor of a resolution to give our negotiating team the authority to threaten a strike at the table. We sent a strong message to the Administration that we are united in this fight and will not accept anything less than a fair and equitable contract for all of us.
As we informed those of you present at the membership meeting, we received a counter proposal from management shortly before our meeting. It is only the second offer we have received from the Administration on economic and health care terms for our members. We know that this new offer—which comes only days after Administration told us it was still refusing to negotiate its first economic proposal—is only because of the solidarity our union has shown during these negotiations. We sent Administration a clear message this week with our various organizing actions, including our presence at the annual fall CAS meeting and the work we did informing students and parents of our contract fight at our informational picket.
Our team has been reviewing Administration's proposal and evaluating its effect on all of our members. We are giving special attention to its impact on our members at the lower end of the salary scale—the ones who have been most adversely affected by the current economic conditions, particularly increases in the costs of food, gas and childcare.
Ordinarily, we would not comment on the specifics of an offer while the parties were actively negotiating. However, Administration has again publicized certain details of their proposal. Unsurprisingly, they once again have chosen only to publicize the positive aspects of their offer and tried to hide the cuts they are asking our membership to take.
While the Administration’s current proposal does include an increase to their wage offer, it continues to contain drastic benefit cuts and premium increases. For the overwhelming majority of our membership who select the PPO plan, a member on a family plan would pay over $3,800 more in premiums than they pay today. Notably, these premiums are thousands of dollars higher than what the Administration charges itself for the same proposed coverage. EMU’s own numbers show that a professor earning the average salary in our bargaining unit would receive only a 0.6% pay increase. For faculty earning less than the average, the cut in pay due to the premium increase will lead to a significant reduction in pay.
In addition, the changes to the PPO plan’s terms, would substantially increase the out-of-pocket costs for our healthcare. When factoring in the increased out-of-pocket costs, Administration’s proposal would lead to a significant decrease in compensation for nearly everyone on the PPO plan. These increased out-of-pocket costs will most negatively impact our members who have serious or chronic health conditions or have children or spouses with such conditions.
Administration has also continued in its refusal to consider several of our proposals which are intended to address bias against faculty from marginalized groups. It is disappointing that Administration’s public rhetoric claiming to value diversity, equity, and inclusion has not been matched by their actions at the table.
While we still find this offer to be unacceptable to our membership, we remain committed to negotiating this contract and reaching an agreement prior to the deadline so that we can continue our work of teaching EMU students. While the Administration’s offer presented today before our membership meeting was weeks too late, it was an important step in these negotiations. Our team has been working through the night to prepare a comprehensive package in response and will continue to negotiate around the clock so long as we believe an agreement is possible.
In solidarity,
EMU-AAUP Negotiating Team