At Tuesday’s negotiation session, TAUP arrived hoping to make progress toward early settlement.  We have worked in good faith for months with the administration on a framework to make it work. All of our proposals on the table, but the administration has responded to few.

The administration signed the agreement for the early settlement framework Mondahy. Unfortunately, the proposals they put on the table later in the session make that possibility far less likely.  They presented several aggressive proposals and rejected others important to TAUP members and key to our vision for education at Temple.

In response to our reasonable proposal for across-the-board increases for all our members and merit raises for full-time members, they painted a dark picture of Temple’s current fiscal uncertainties and proposed the following based on that:

• NO across-the-board increase for full time members (academic professionals, faculty and librarians)
• Merit increases only, contingent on what the administration decides to give to non-union employees (which could be 0%)    
• NO proposal for adjunct raises, though there was a weak indication that one may be coming

On health care, they proposed:

• Increases in the premium share for full-time members:  2% for individuals, 3% for members with one dependent (a new “+1” category) and 4% for families  
• A deductible of $250/yr for individuals and $500/yr for +1 and families for lab tests, x-rays, imaging and outpatient surgery

We pointed out that their health care costs declined last year thanks to the changes in plan design we had previously agreed to.

The administration did say that these were initial proposals, and that their wage proposal may change as the fiscal picture for next year comes into clearer focus.  TAUP believes that these proposals need to be significantly revised in order for us to reach an agreement.

Temple’s financial statements clearly show that they have the resources to respond more sensibly to our wage proposals, even with a small projected decline in enrollment and flat state funding, and to not jack up our health care costs so severely.  

There were additional disappointing responses from proposals discussed in the 5/16 and 5/21 sessions:

• On 5/16 in response to our proposal to increase tenure-track hiring by 1% a year, they said “we would never agree” to a target number in the contract. They also expressed uncertainty that there was a problem that needed to be addressed.  
• In response to our job security proposal for adjuncts, they offered a proposal for an evaluation process has NO connection to promotion or job security. We have responded to their proposal, addressing concerns about workload in assessing adjunct faculty, maintaining job security and promotion.
• They have not responded to our proposal on NTT job security but say they will do so.
• We put forth a proposal for maternity leave, which adds 4 weeks’ paid leave for all full-time members and guarantees maternity leave for librarians and academic professionals who must currently rely on an unpredictable pool of sick leave and vacation days. The administration expressed no interest in changing the current system.
• The administration proposed the elimination of our members’ right to grieve discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and national origin, saying that other processes outside of the contract, overseen by the administration, are better suited to address these issues.

For a comprehensive list of issues on the table, click here

The university’s positions are alarming and raise questions about the university’s priorities and the value placed on the work of educators, librarians and academic professionals. It has become clear that the university needs to see demonstrations of support among members for the union’s positions.

We are scheduling a rally at the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, July 9th, and have negotiation sessions scheduled for May 30th and 31st.

We urge you to support this work by RSVPing here for one or all of these dates.