Tag Archives: Collective bargaining

Laurier could face strike by faculty in early March

Posted on February 20, 2012 by | Comments Off on Laurier could face strike by faculty in early March

The Record: Laurier could face strike by faculty in early March

WATERLOO — Full-time faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University will be in a legal strike position on March 3 if a contract settlement isn’t reached with the university.

The Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association said Wednesday that 520 members approved a strike mandate with a 91 per cent vote last Friday. The group includes 19 librarians. Their contract ran out on July 1.

Main issues include salaries and pensions, both sides said.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Laurier could face strike by faculty in early March

Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Tagged , , , ,

Ohio Voters Reject Law to Curtail Public-College Faculty Bargaining Rights

Posted on November 9, 2011 by | Comments Off on Ohio Voters Reject Law to Curtail Public-College Faculty Bargaining Rights

The Chronicle: Ohio Voters Reject Law to Curtail Public-College Faculty Bargaining Rights

Ohio voters rejected a controversial anti-union measure Tuesday, with a strong majority voting no in a referendum on whether to approve a new state law that would have limited collective-bargaining rights for public employees and severed many public-college professors from the bargaining process.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Ohio Voters Reject Law to Curtail Public-College Faculty Bargaining Rights

Posted in Unions

Tagged ,

Faculty Unions in Ohio and Wisconsin Accept Concessions Defeat

Posted on October 11, 2011 by | Comments Off on Faculty Unions in Ohio and Wisconsin Accept Concessions Defeat

The Chronicle: Faculty Unions in Ohio and Wisconsin Hunker Down

Political climate forces leaders to accept concessions and defeat

The attacks on Ohio’s and Wisconsin’s public-sector unions mounted by fiscally conservative lawmakers this year are forcing unions that represent public-college faculty in those states to rethink their strategies and basic missions.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Faculty Unions in Ohio and Wisconsin Accept Concessions Defeat

Posted in Budgets & Funding, Unions

Tagged ,

Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law

Posted on June 15, 2011 by | Comments Off on Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law

Journal Sentinel: Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law

Madison – Acting with unusual speed, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial plan to end most collective bargaining for tens of thousands of public workers.

The court found that a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state’s open meetings law, and so did not violate that law when it hastily approved the collective bargaining measure in March and made it possible for the Senate to take it up. In doing so, the Supreme Court overruled a Dane County judge who had halted the legislation, ending one challenge to the law even as new challenges are likely to emerge.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law

Posted in Unions

Tagged , ,

Connecticut Measure Would Strip Many Faculty Members of Collective-Bargaining Rights

Posted on April 21, 2011 by | Comments Off on Connecticut Measure Would Strip Many Faculty Members of Collective-Bargaining Rights

The Chronicle: Connecticut Measure Would Strip Many Faculty Members of Collective-Bargaining Rights

A budget bill working its way through Connecticut’s House of Representatives would have the effect of stripping many college faculty members of their rights to engage in collective bargaining, by reclassifying them as “managerial employees” if they are heads of academic departments or hold certain other decision-making roles.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Connecticut Measure Would Strip Many Faculty Members of Collective-Bargaining Rights

Posted in Unions

Tagged , ,

The Long History of Labor Bashing

Posted on March 7, 2011 by | Comments Off on The Long History of Labor Bashing

The Chronicle Review: The Long History of Labor Bashing

By Nelson Lichtenstein
When he was still President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, now mayor-elect of Chicago, famously quipped: “Never allow a crisis to go to waste.”

Republican governors in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio, and other states have certainly taken that advice to heart. By emphasizing, and in some cases manipulating, the red ink flowing through so many state budgets, they have leveraged the crisis to strike a body blow at the public-sector unions that represent so many teachers, professors, social workers, and municipal employees. The collective-bargaining rights of the police and firefighters, often a privileged caste, are also being threatened in some states.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on The Long History of Labor Bashing

Posted in Unions

Tagged , , ,

Detroit’s Schools Are Going Bankrupt, Too

Posted on July 27, 2009 by | Comments Off on Detroit’s Schools Are Going Bankrupt, Too

Wall Street Journal: Detroit’s Schools Are Going Bankrupt, Too
Now’s the time to cast off collective bargaining agreements and introduce school choice.

‘Am I optimistic that they can avoid it . . . ? I am not.” That’s what retired judge Ray Graves said this week when asked whether the Detroit public schools, which he is advising, would be forced into bankruptcy. Facing violence, a shrinking student body, and graduating just one out of every four students who enter the ninth grade on time, the city’s schools have been stumbling for years. Now they face a seemingly insurmountable deficit and are expected to file for bankruptcy protection at about the time that students should be settling down in a new school year.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Detroit’s Schools Are Going Bankrupt, Too

Posted in Campaigns & Contracts, Unions, Working conditions

Tagged , , ,

Western Michigan Instructors and Adjunct Faculty Vote Union

Posted on July 2, 2009 by | Comments Off on Western Michigan Instructors and Adjunct Faculty Vote Union

FACE/AFT: Western Michigan Instructors and Adjunct Faculty Vote Union

Today the instructors and adjunct faculty at Western Michigan University overwhelmingly voted for the Professional Instructors Organization (PIO) to represent them. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission counted the votes in Lansing this morning and announced that the final vote tally was 207 to 29.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Western Michigan Instructors and Adjunct Faculty Vote Union

Posted in Organizing, Unions

Tagged , , ,

Wisconsin Academics Get Expansive Bargaining Bill

Posted on July 1, 2009 by | Comments Off on Wisconsin Academics Get Expansive Bargaining Bill

FACE/AFT: Wisconsin Academics Get Expansive Bargaining Bill

After 40 long years of advocacy and a roller coaster ride of hopes raised, then dashed, academic employees in the University of Wisconsin system finally have the right to decide whether they will be represented by a union. On June 29, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed the 2009-2011 biennial budget, which includes a provision extending collective bargaining rights to more than 20,000 UW faculty, academic staff and research assistants.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Wisconsin Academics Get Expansive Bargaining Bill

Posted in Unions

Tagged ,

New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty

Posted on May 11, 2009 by | Comments Off on New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty

NewsWest9.com: Highlands regents approve contract with faculty

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty.

The regents voted in favor of the contract last week, a day after the professors’ union voted for it.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on New Mexico Highlands University regents have unanimously approved a contract that gives raises to the faculty

Posted in Campaigns & Contracts

Tagged , ,

New Idea on Grad Students, Unions at NYU

Posted on April 20, 2009 by | Comments Off on New Idea on Grad Students, Unions at NYU

Inside Higher Ed: New Idea on Grad Students, Unions

New York University has been the site of a historic breakthrough for the push to unionize graduate teaching assistants — and a bitter strike to preserve the union, which ended in failure, without collective bargaining. NYU administrators are now floating an idea that would give graduate students the right to join the university’s adjunct union.

The idea is linked to improvements NYU is considering in doctoral students’ funding packages. Currently, students receive five years of support, but some of the support is linked to teaching for two or four semesters. The NYU plan would end the teaching requirement. Graduate students would still be encouraged to teach, but any teaching assignments would be paid on top of their fellowships. For those assignments, they would be treated as adjuncts, and covered by NYU’s adjunct union.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on New Idea on Grad Students, Unions at NYU

Posted in Organizing

Tagged , , , , , ,

Florida: FAU says no to recommended faculty raises

Posted on April 13, 2009 by | Comments Off on Florida: FAU says no to recommended faculty raises

Sun Sentinel: FAU says no to recommended faculty raises

BOCA RATON – Florida Atlantic University is rejecting a magistrate’s recommendation to give larger raises to faculty.

The university and the United Faculty of Florida have been at impasse since November over faculty salaries. Special Magistrate Joseph M. Schneider recommended the university offer a one-year 2.5 percent raise, saying that should be “the minimum salary increase needed to keep faculty salaries competitive in the labor market.” The recommendation was nonbinding, but the union believed FAU should have abided by it.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Florida: FAU says no to recommended faculty raises

Posted in Salary/Economic Benefits

Tagged , , ,

Arbitrator Rules Against Prof Who Didn’t Want Extra Course

Posted on April 13, 2009 by | Comments Off on Arbitrator Rules Against Prof Who Didn’t Want Extra Course

Inside Higher Ed: Arbitrator Rules Against Prof Who Didn’t Want Extra Course

The University of Florida did not violate collective bargaining rules by requiring a professor to teach an additional course, an independent arbitrator has concluded. Florence Babb, an endowed professor and graduate coordinator of the university’s Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, challenged Florida’s decision to change her teaching load, saying her employment agreement stipulated that she would only be required to teach one course each semester. Given significant budget challenges, Florida officials increased Babb’s teaching requirements. Babb is now required to teach three courses over the spring and fall semesters, in addition to carrying out her duties as graduate coordinator for the women’s studies center. Ben Falcigno, an arbitrator who reviewed the case, based his decision on Babb’s 2004 appointment letter. The letter states that the “normal” course load for Babb would be two courses a year, but Falcigno concluded current budget constraints constitute “abnormal” conditions that allow the university to increase Babb’s teaching requirements. Babb was represented by the United Faculty of Florida, a statewide union affiliated with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. Pradeep Kumar, who represented Babb for the union, said the arbitration ruling is binding and won’t be appealed. Babb could not be reached for comment.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Arbitrator Rules Against Prof Who Didn’t Want Extra Course

Posted in Unions, Working conditions

Tagged , , ,

Loss for Private College Union

Posted on March 16, 2009 by | Comments Off on Loss for Private College Union

Inside Higher Ed: Loss for Private College Union
March 16, 2009

Union organizing of professors at private colleges has largely been squelched since 1980, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in NLRB v. Yeshiva University that faculty members at private institutions should be considered managerial employees ineligible for collective bargaining.

A rare breakthrough for such union drives came in 2005, when the National Labor Relations Board ruled that faculty members at Carroll University had the right to unionize. But on Friday, in a ruling that focused primarily on whether Carroll was entitled to be exempt from unionization because of its religious ties, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the NLRB ruling, effectively quashing the union drive.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Loss for Private College Union

Posted in Legal issues

Tagged , , ,

Carroll U. Does Not Have to Bargain With Faculty Union, Appellate Court Rules

Posted on March 16, 2009 by | Comments Off on Carroll U. Does Not Have to Bargain With Faculty Union, Appellate Court Rules

The Chronicle News Blog: Carroll U. Does Not Have to Bargain With Faculty Union, Appellate Court Rules

Carroll University, a private Presbyterian institution in Wisconsin, will not have to bargain with its faculty union because it qualifies for an exemption from the National Labor Relations Board’s jurisdiction on religious grounds, a federal appellate court ruled today.

Email, RSS Follow

Comments Off on Carroll U. Does Not Have to Bargain With Faculty Union, Appellate Court Rules

Posted in Legal issues

Tagged , , , ,