On Friday, TAUP and the administration presented a comprehensive plans that included mutual moves to drop some proposals in exchange for others.  It was a critical moment in negotiations for both sides.  No one wants to drop proposals that they believe in, but both sides know going into negotiations that there are things to be gained at this time at the table, and others that need to be fought through other means, or over time.  

Though neither side has agreed to the comprehensive proposal that the other has set on the table, we are now going back and forth with potential trades. There are difficult decisions to be made that require an assessment of where there is the greatest likelihood of making progress.  

Agreement was reached on the following issues:

• Discipline and Dismissal of Tenure Track Faculty:  The administration proposed to weaken the process for discipline/dismissal of tenure-track but not yet tenured professors , TAUP rejected this and counter-proposed expanding protections for NTT faculty.  On Friday, both sides dropped their proposals and reverted to the status quo in the contract.
• NTT Job Responsibilities:  NTTs are being required to engage in the tri-partite mission of research, teaching, and service in two colleges, and TAUP proposed language clarifying that the contract excludes this.  The administration had proposed changing the contract to allow for this expansion of NTT duties. We ultimately settled on mutually withdrawing proposals along with a process for to settle this concern over the practices at the two colleges outside of negotiations. 
• Hardship withdrawal from retirement account:  The administration agreed to our proposal, committing to setting up a procedure for hardship withdrawals within 6 months of ratification.

Several active proposals were also revised in an effort to seek common ground, including:

• Justice for families:   We revised a series of proposals that would bring the administration closer to its claim that Temple is family friendly.  Thus far, the administration has refused these proposals and has made matters worse by proposing a health-care clawback that would hurt all of our members but would disproportionately punish families, adding over $1000 to their yearly premiums as well as a $500 deductible for in-network services and a $1000 deductible out-of-network.
• Childcare:  A sideletter in a prior contract made provision for TAUP and the Faculty Senate to submit a proposal on childcare benefits. We did so in May of 2018, but received no reply from the administration until they rejected it in full last week. In response to this, TAUP removed its proposal for an on-site childcare center, which the administration had made clear it would not agree to, and focused instead on a subsidy for childcare and for Temple to contract with an outside provider for backup care in cases where one’s childcare or eldercare falls through. 
• Tuition Benefits at Other Schools:  Another sideletter in a prior contract made provision for TAUP and the Faculty Senate to submit a proposal on tuition benefits at other schools. In response to the administration’s rejection of the entire proposal, TAUP narrowed it to Temple’s joining the Tuition Exchange, a scholarship program that nearly 700 schools participate in.  
• Paternity leave for Librarians and Academic Professionals (APs):  We initially proposed 12 weeks paid leave for all mothers and fathers in our bargaining unit.  Since the administration has rejected this, we have narrowed its scope. Our Librarians and APs do not have anything close to the benefits our full-time faculty have around maternity and paternity.  Where full-time faculty get 8 weeks paid leave for maternity plus an extra 4 weeks paid if medically necessary, librarians and APs must rely on sick leave that accrues at 10 days a year. If a new mother has been at Temple for 3 years and has had to use half of that sick leave in that time, they would get only 3 weeks to recover from childbirth, leaving nothing for sickness for a parent or baby after pregnancy. APs and librarians also have no provision like the work-life balance that allows new mothers or fathers among the full-time faculty to apply for a semester off of teaching to care for a newborn or a newly-adopted or new foster child.  We have made a proposal to remedy this inequity. 

The administration also showed movement on some additional areas:

• •  Discrimination:  The administration showed willingness to drop its demand that discrimination no longer be grievable, but the offer had strings attached that we cannot accept. We do believe that we can ultimately come to an agreement on this crucial issue.  ‘
  • Job Security:  Though administration made a helpful counter on adjunct job security, unfortunately, on both adjunct and NTT job security, they still refuse to accept the core of our proposals–the elements that would actually increase the job security of 75% of our bargaining unit.  We will continue to push on these most important issues.  
  • Salary and wages:  Both sides are moving on compensation proposals.  After the union made a shift in adjunct wages, the administration made its first offer on minima for full-time and adjunct members.  In addition, they moved a bit in response to our proposals on across-the-board and merit raises for full-time members, but they have also begun to threaten that the raises would start from ratification rather than dating back to July 1, 2019, when we would have normally had an across-the-board raise.  We reject this position. 

Health insurance:  The administration has not moved at all on its proposal for very large increases in premiums, deductibles and co-pays for specialists.   The salary offers from the university do not even cover cost of living increases, and additional healthcare costs make it clear that so far, our members are being offered a pay cut. We cannot accept increases of this sort.

Things are moving and  both sides have made progress toward an agreement.  But we still have a significant disagreements to resolve before we have a contract that our negotiating team and Executive Committee could bring to members for discussion and ratification.  We will continue to work hard to move things in a positive direction.  

You can help by getting more involved.  The power of a union is in its membership, it’s in YOU.  Attend open bargaining, sign our petition (email jsiegelaft@gmail.com), talk to your colleagues about the importance of supporting this work, and keep your eye out for other actions to show our collective power.