Colleagues representing TAUP on the union’s table team and the administration resumed negotiations yesterday in a session where both sides shared non-economic proposals. Twenty TAUP colleagues were there to observe the session, and were able to witness the contrast between our vision for Temple and the administration’s:  

TAUP is fighting to expand equity, respect, job security, and diversity.  The administration’s proposals:

• significantly reduce our members’ rights to grieve
• seek to remove members from the bargaining unit, and
• aim to weaken the union by making it harder for TAUP to represent you and enforce the contract

WHAT’S NEW ON THE TABLE

We introduced proposals:  

• protecting the intellectual property of faculty who design courses and establish a labor-management committee to address intellectual property issues unrelated to patents
• strengthening language to insure that NTTs are not tasked with all three missions of teaching, research, and service, which we are seeing with increasing frequency
• establishing a Diversity Initiative that will benefit all of our members:
  • Diversity hiring: a large increase in funds to hire and retain diverse faculty with regular reports to the Faculty Senate and TAUP on the state of these efforts
  • Increased compensation and course releases for service: a significant allocation of funds to address inequities in compensation and to provide course releases for service.  All members would be eligible, but faculty of color and women experience heightened inequities in these areas. 
  • Limiting the role of student evaluations: a recognition that because multiple studies have shown that student feedback forms are prone to bias based on gender, race and other factors unrelated to the quality of instruction, they shall not be used as the primary criterion for tenure, promotion, reappointment, and merit. 
• clarifying librarians’ promotion to the highest level
• ensuring that faculty are not called back to work earlier than the week before the Spring semester 
• providing representation for NTTs on committees charged with promoting them and with awarding them merit and sabbaticals
• establishing clear procedures for adjunct promotion
• giving adjuncts as much time as full-time faculty to file a grievance
• giving members of TUGSA credit toward eligibility in TAUP so that they do not have a hole in health coverage and union rights during their first semester as adjuncts 
• providing TAUP with timelier data, a sufficient number of printed contracts, and access to new hires at orientation.

The administration’s proposals were of a very different nature, mostly designed to limit your rights under the contract and to diminish the power of TAUP’s ability to represent you. These included proposals:  

• to treat program directors and those in similar positions as if they were chairs, removing them from TAUP and leaving them with no union representation 
• to move academic professionals from TAUP to another union
• to remove the right that members have to grieve violations of “reasonable provisions for the safety and health.” This is in addition to their demand that discrimination no longer be grievable.
• to remove the union’s right to office space and course releases for union work
• to limit our ability to engage with new members during orientation in contrast to recent practice

We made some progress on a number of issues–a clarification on work-life balance and the addition of a fact-finding step in grievances.  We also had a substantive discussion on NTT Job Security. 

JOIN THE FIGHT 

Your colleagues in the union are working with the administration in areas where we can make progress, but in order for us to succeed with the proposals we’ve put forth as well as combat the anti-union and anti-worker policies suggested by administration, it’s critical that we come together.

The real fight will be away from the bargaining table as we apply public pressure to ensure we win a contract that guarantees to faculty, staff and students that Temple University is a great place to work and attend.

It’s time for you to step up your support to increase the union’s strength in attaining significant gains in the new contract. There are several ways you join your colleagues and help us push back against the administration’s damaging proposals. 

First, if you are not a dues-paying member, JOIN THE UNION.

Second, ATTEND upcoming bargaining sessions on the 15th, 27th, and 30th. RSVP here.

Third, STRATEGIZE with us on August 21st from 10am-1pm at the Gittis Center. RSVP here.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to contact us at taupaft@gmail.com.