11 May Words are Not Enough
- Provost Poser publicly agreed to union and senate representation on the Fall 2020 Planning Task Force.
- Despite repeated prior attempts by UICUF to put forth a candidate for this forum, administration has failed to follow through on their promise of access.
- UICUF cannot accept this issue as settled until a representative is SEATED AT THE TABLE.
- Please sign our petition to demand the administration meet their words with actions by accepting a union representative on the committee. Even more important: all possible future changes in work conditions must be negotiated with the union via ongoing impact bargaining BEFORE THEY ARE IMPLEMENTED
Saying One Thing and Doing Another
If you were present for the Provost’s virtual town hall earlier today, you will have heard that UICUF, as well as the University Senate, will now have formal membership on the Fall 2020 Planning Task Force. Thank you to the hundreds of union members who sent questions on this point prior to and during the meeting for pushing administration on this issue!
You will also have heard, however, that the Provost had already offered UICUF a seat at the table with no response from the union. After UICUF brought this demand to Impact Bargaining weeks ago, our officers immediately responded that they would participate (and we have the emails to prove it). We reinforced this in writing at that time, and then again restated our intention to participate in writing when administration later claimed they’d received no response. To date, they have not followed through on the offer to seat a union representative at the table.
This is a problematic pattern of the administration saying one thing and doing another, even as UICUF has worked strenuously to build a collegial and constructive dialogue during this crisis. They have spoken a great deal about coming together as a community, and now we expect them to stand by those words.
Words are not Enough
The major victory of our having a seat on the Task Force is, however, not nearly enough. Even more importantly, the administration has a legal obligation to return to the negotiating table for impact bargaining (see article XXII of our contract) – forging legally enforceable agreements about changes in our work conditions caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
To confirm that the administration is now indeed committed to working in a more constructive fashion with the union, we are demanding that the administration respond, immediately and in writing to the union’s Impact Bargaining team, confirming receipt of our intention to participate on the Fall 2020 Planning Task Force. We cannot consider this issue to be resolved until a union representative is SEATED on this task force.
To this end, we are launching a petition demanding that the administration respect the Faculty’s voice through our union, both in Fall 2020 planning, and at the impact bargaining table. We can no longer accept words alone on these points, but must see real action. Please sign our petition via the link below:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/give-faculty-a-voice-in-fall-2020-planning/
More Work to Do
As you know, access to planning committees and impact bargaining are tools that we can use to give faculty a voice on the unprecedented changes the university is currently undergoing. We need your participation, and your thoughts, to give these actions meaning. Of critical importance, we will shortly be inviting faculty to participate in our own NTT caucus, to formulate plans on protecting and supporting faculty without the benefit of long-term contracts. We also highly encourage you to send your thoughts, concerns, and any unanswered questions from today’s town hall, to us at UICUnitedFaculty@gmail.com after you sign the petition, so that we can best represent you in these forums.
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