Tag: negotiation

It’s a TAUP Summer: Negotiation Prep, Surveys, a Membership Drive and Activist Training

It’s summertime and, like everyone else, TAUP is shifting gears. Between terms, we have the opportunity to assess the work we’ve done over the semester and to think ahead in planning for the fall.

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

To build power to negotiate for our pay, benefits, and working conditions, we need strong relationships with colleagues both in and outside of our individual departments and schools. Becoming a dues-paying member of TAUP is an important and meaningful way for you to connect with colleagues, with the university and with communities both on and off campus. By signing a membership card your voice can, and will, be heard.

Our strength in negotiating at the table is directly linked to our membership numbers. If you are not currently a dues-paying member, if you want the Union to be in a good position to fight for a strong new contract and to build on and maintain the gains you enjoy, it’s time to join.

This summer, we’ll be out knocking on doors, both on campus and off. Why do we go to people’s homes? Because it is that important. Let us know if we’ve caught you at a bad time. Our experience with members through home visits has been very positive. We wouldn’t continue to do it if that were not the case. We’ve been able to connect with people at their homes whom we’ve been unable to contact with on campus. Unlike at school, people have time to talk. If you’re not currently a dues-paying member and you’d prefer to meet at school or at a specific time at home, contact our organizer, Abbey Bricker, to make arrangements.

NEGOTIATION PREPARATION

We’ll be back at the table in Spring of 2019, and in preparation, we’re engaged in research and in outreach to members of the bargaining unit. If you’d like to help by taking on a small project, or if you’d be interested in being a liaison between the Union and your department, please contact TAUP President Steve Newman or VP Jennie Shanker .

BARGAINING SURVEYS

This summer, you’ll be hearing from us. Negotiations for the full bargaining unit start in Spring of 2019, and in preparation for them, we’ll be sending out surveys to help us identify the top priorities for each of our constituencies. Be sure to respond to surveys when you receive them. When we hear from you, we can represent you well.

ACTIVIST TRAININGS

Keep an eye out for an announcement for our activist training this summer. For the past two years, we’ve held one-day boot camps for members who are interested in working with colleagues in TAUP to improve our lives and working conditions at Temple. If you are interested in attending this summer’s training, send your contact information to Abbey Bricker.

Rally for a Fair Contract for Grad Students

Join Grad Students as We Rally for a Fair Contract at the Bell Tower, Weds. 3/14 @ noon!

No matter what department you do your teaching and research in, you no doubt recognize the contribution that graduate teaching and research assistants make to this university. Graduate assistants teach the majority of undergrad gened courses and lead labs, hold recitation, crunch data, write reports, hold office hours, proctor exams, and grade a multitude of essays, assignments, and exams. What you might not know is that Temple’s graduate teaching and research assistants do all of this vital work for around $15,000-$18,000 a year – roughly $1300 a month during the school year. In a rapidly-gentrifying city like Philadelphia, rents are going up and grad students often have to choose between having multiple roommates in far-flung neighborhoods or taking out loans so that they can live closer to campus or have fewer roommates.

Fortunately, the graduate teaching and research assistants at Temple have a union – TUGSA (Temple University Graduate Student Association). TUGSA has been negotiating with Temple administration since this past Fall and we are down to the wire on economics – raises, pay equity among departments, and preserving healthcare. TUGSA has been pushing for modest raises to be enacted over the life of the contract that begin to keep pace with inflation and the local cost of living.

On Wednesday, March 14th at 12pm TUGSA will be holding a Rally for a Fair Contract at the Bell Tower. As professors, leaders in your fields, and fellow union members, TUGSA is asking for your support by attending the rally and – even more importantly – showing your solidarity with graduate employees by wearing “I <3 my TA” pins and stickers on Wednesday. Please contact staff@tugsa.org if you would like pins and/or stickers delivered to your office on Wednesday morning, and if you are active on social media, please post pictures and share ours using the hashtags: #I<3myTA, #WeAreTUGSA, #DoBetterTemple.

 

A Tentative Agreement/First Contract for Adjuncts

After 15 months of negotiations, Temple’s Administration and TAUP have reached a Tentative Agreement for a first contract for adjunct faculty, expiring in October, 2019.  Approved by TAUP’s Executive Committee, it will now go to our members for ratification.  The date for the ratification vote will be set soon, and we will shortly be sending out procedures for ratification.

Three important points about this agreement:  1) adjuncts have won significant raises and protections; 2)a one-year extension of the full-time faculty contract means in Academic Year 2018-19 there is a provision for the same raise as in 2017-18 with no other changes to the contract; 3) going forward, TAUP will bargain as a united union, part-time and full-time.

Some key details are listed below.  First, it is important to explain why we have agreed to a two-year contract for adjuncts with a one-year extension of the current full-time contract.  This was the result of the Administration’s pushing for a three-year adjunct deal and treating it essentially as a separate contract.  This runs counter to the rightful finding of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board that we are ONE union and would also weaken us at the bargaining table by forcing us to negotiate at separate times, undercutting our solidarity.  Also, after over a year of negotiations, the Administration understandably did not want to bargain over adjunct conditions again in the coming Spring along with the full-time contract.   A two-year adjunct contract with a one-year extension for the full-time faculty  was the best way to resolve this conflict.  It means that our entire unit will be able to bargain together in 2019 and act together more effectively.

The contract offers substantial gains for ALL our members and puts TAUP in a stronger position as we look ahead.   Although this contract, like all contracts, does not include everything we hoped for, it lays the foundation for a future where we can make those gains. And it immediately establishes gains for ALL our members once ratified.  (To find out if you meet the eligibility requirements for the Bargaining Unit as an adjunct, please see Article 2 of the Tentative Agreement.)

  • Adjunct salaries:
    • In Academic Year 2017-18, the minimum salary for adjuncts increases from $1300 to $1425 per credit hour.
    • In Academic Year 2018-19, the minimum increases from $1425 to $1500 per credit hour. Taking these two increases together, this is a raise of 15.4% over the current minimum that will take effect at the beginning of AY 2018-19, less than a year from now.. It is also the first time we know of that adjuncts across the university have ever received raises two years in a row.
    • According to our rough estimates, over 70% of adjuncts would receive a raise in the minimum the first year and 80% cumulatively over both years.
    • Those earning between $1425 and $1500 get a $150 one-time payment the first time they teach during 2017-18.
  • Full-time salaries and benefits:
    • Full-time members of the bargaining unit will receive the same raise on 7/1/18 as on 7/1/17, which was the largest in the 2014-18 contract: 1.625% across-the-board, and 1.25-1.75% merit.
    • This extension  means that full-time members will not immediately face the pressure of higher health insurance premiums and co-pays.   Since we signed our last contract in 2014, all other unions who have signed contracts and employees not covered by collective bargaining have seen increases in premiums and co-pays.
    • Given that Temple does not know what its state appropriation for this year will be, locking in this raise and our current health care costs and benefits is, we believe, a wise choice.
  • Other gains for adjuncts:
    • A joint committee will be established to explore increasing Job Security for adjuncts. Within a year of forming, the committee is required to report to the Administration and TAUP, who are required to respond within two months of receiving the report.
    • The Health Insurance subsidy currently offered to adjuncts is now in the contract and thus not subject to unilateral administrative change, and the terms of eligibility are expanded so more adjuncts will qualify.
    • Adjuncts will now be protected by procedures on Grievance, Arbitration, and Discipline/Dismissal. The arbitration procedure turns to impartial, independent arbitrators to settle disputes.
    • Each adjunct will have an official Personnel File in the department or college that will include standard information. Union membership information will not be part of the file.  Adjuncts will be informed when material is added to their personnel file, and they get a chance to include a rebuttal of any negative information placed in it.
    • Protections for adjuncts’ Academic Freedom are written into the contract.
    • Joint committees are established to investigate Affirmative Action, Promotion, and Office Space.
    • Adjunct faculty whose classes are cancelled within one week prior to the start of classes or during Add-Drop will receive 4% of the salary they would have received as compensation.

The agreement is now posted on the TAUP website.  Over the next few days, we will be sending out further eBulletins on this Tentative Agreement, and we look forward to communicating with you in the days and weeks ahead.

 

Steve Newman, President

Jennie Shanker, Vice President

Norma Corrales-Martin, Treasurer

Art Hochner, Chief Negotiator

On behalf of the Negotiating Team and the Executive Committee