November 25 and 26 UNAC-UA negotiations )
The faculty union (UNAC) has not posted negotiating summaries for these two days. But we have you covered.
November 25
UNAC and the University tentatively agreed (TA’d) to articles 2 and 13 without changes.
Article 2, as TA’d, removes the University’s language that would have barred faculty members from some union activity [see UNAC’s 2024-10-15 update].
Article 13, as TA’d, sees UNAC give up its attempt to change workload deadline language.
The two sides are at a standstill on the subject of external review letters in promotion files.
UNAC would like to remove the requirement that all faculty include these letters. UNAC argues that they make little sense for faculty with only teaching and service workloads. These faculty may not have many connections outside of UA to draw on for external review letters. UNAC wanted each major administrative unit (e.g., UAF) or academic unit (e.g., Fisheries and Ocean Sciences) to decide whether its faculty would need external review letters.
On the other hand, the University proposed to make external review letters the sole prerogative of deans and directors. UNAC contends that this would allow for a dean to selectively require external reviews for some faculty and not others. A dean could also arbitrarily require a review letter at the last moment.
The University’s position appears petty, but it serves some purpose. We who have rattled our chains, who see the ceaseless struggle between exploiter and exploited, know that our masters are driven to irrationality as they strive to fortify their dominance. Plus, by making the promotion and tenure process that much more difficult they will prevent some faculty from getting the raises (and sometimes tenure) that come from promotion.
Non-tenure track faculty was the other issue of the day. The University proposal balked at required multi-year contracts and kept the notices of non-renewal as specified in the CBA. In response, UNAC dropped multi-year contracts but pushed for slightly longer non-retention notices for newer non-tenure track faculty.
November 26
The two sides met briefly.
The University…
- agreed to not change language about external review letters
- did not agree to increase non-renewal notice period
- proposed to base market adjustments on merit, not inflation
Conclusion
Some have accused us of wanting to see the unions weakened or even destroyed. Not so. We don’t much care about the unions. We appreciate the sincerity and militancy of the union officials and those rank and file members who take a leading role. Still, we maintain that every union ties its own hands with the commitment to “good faith bargaining” and the legal process!
You can see how much the UNAC has accomplished. UNAC began with a demand for 5% raises. We said even this was too little. Now, in the interests of “good faith bargaining,” UNAC asks for raises of 4%, 4.5%, and 5% – barely more than what the University has proposed.
What we need is a militant, extralegal struggle of the entire workforce. One where “negotiation” is replaced by by raw force and action!