Month: November 2019

TAUP to Board of Trustees: Negotiate a Fair Contract

Today, several of your TAUP colleagues delivered a petition with hundreds of signatures to the office of the Board of Trustees asking for them to bargain a fair contract.

Each signature represents a conversation about our current working conditions and demonstrates the power of our organizing efforts as we stand up for what is just and fair. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, it’s not too late! Click here to sign.

 

 

Tomorrow, we will be back in negotiations discussing issues that are particularly critical to families:
• Healthcare
• Real parental leave for librarians and academic professionals
• Childcare
• Tuition benefits at other schools.
• Wages

The union will be fighting current administrative proposals that would increase family healthcare premiums by 4% (2% for individuals), increase in-network deductibles from $0 to $500 ($250 for individuals), and copays for specialists from $20 to $40. This represents a significant increase in the cost of your healthcare that is particularly punishing to families.

Join your colleagues tomorrow, Tuesday, 11/12 as we stand together to say YES to family friendly policies, and NO to sky-rocketing healthcare costs.

We welcome your attendance in support of the union’s stance on these issues, even if you can only stay for part of the time. We’ll be at the 201 Hotel, 201 N. 17th Street) at 11:30am.

Be sure to RSVP here.

Petition Delivered to the Board of Trustees

Graduate Student Unions are Under Attack

On September 20th, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a proposed new rule that would reclassify graduate workers as students rather than employees.

If implemented, this rule would immediately revoke or endanger the rights that teaching assistants, research assistants, graduate assistants, training grant holders, and others are entitled to in their capacity as graduate employees, most importantly the right to collectively bargain over their pay, benefits, and working conditions. This constitutes a direct attack on graduate employees, the universities that employ them, and the institution of higher education itself.

While the decision would not immediately affect graduate students at public universities, like the Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA), it would set a dangerous precedent.

Sign this petition to show your solidarity with our graduate students in TUGSA.  

http://www.tugsa.org/petition/

Negotiations Update November 7, 2019, Fighting for Families and a Tentative Agreement for Adjuncts

Progress at the Table

On Wednesday at the negotiating table, TAUP and the administration signed a tentative agreement on adjunct hiring, evaluation and job security.  It creates: 

 

  • The ability for adjuncts to receive multi-semester appointments

  • Pay minimums associated with each rank

  • An evaluation process for promotion, raises and multi-semester appointments that must include multiple methods of assessment (not just student feedback forms)

  • A departmental contact person/mentor

  • Information at the time of hiring in regard to how one’s rank and pay were set, and thus the ability to negotiate it

  • Reasonable assurance language which will make it easier for adjuncts to receive unemployment between terms if they have not been issued an appointment letter

 

This critical piece of our contract comes after months of negotiations–years, if we count the prior adjunct negotiation–and an organizing push that has shown that our members can create meaningful change when we fight in solidarity for fair working conditions.

 

But, as with the other agreements we’ve signed–more than 20 at this point–this one will not come into effect unless we arrive at an overall agreement that can then be ratified by both sides.  And much remains to be fought for at the table.

 

What’s standing in the way of an agreement?

  • Current administrative proposals would increase family healthcare premiums by 4% (2% for individuals), would increase in-network deductibles from $0 to $500 ($250 for individuals), and copays for specialists from $20 to $40.
  • The administration is still resisting our proposals on real parental leave for librarians and academic professionals
  • They are unwilling to discuss childcare and tuition benefits at other universities
  • Their wage proposal remains under the projected rate of inflation.
  • Their proposals to weaken TAUP remain on the table–including one that would evict us from our main campus office.

Join us next week as we continue to fight for a fair contract

 

PETITION DELIVERY

Have you signed our petition to the Board of Trustees yet? You can now do so online here 

On Monday, 11/11 at 11:30am we will be meeting in front of Sullivan Hall to drop off hundreds of petition signatures we’ve received asking the Board of Trustees to push Temple’s administration to bargain a fair contract.

Please email our organizer, Jenna Siegel (jsiegelaft@gmail.com) if you’re able to attend. 

 

STOP THE ADMINISTRATION’S ATTACKS ON FAMILIES

On Tuesday, 11/12 at 11:30am we will be having an open bargaining session focused on the administration’s proposals that create additional burdens for families.  The administration should not be asking families to absorb exorbitant increases for their health coverage, and the university has the money to offer childcare, tuition benefits at other schools, and real parental leave for librarians and academic professionals.

Show up and stand with your colleagues.
RSVP here.