Bargaining Update: Faculty deserve flexibility to work safely

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The administration team’s proposal on the transition to and from remote work gives supervisors the ultimate authority to decide the manner in which classes will be continued in the event that an instructor must quarantine. Our previous proposal on this matter would give the faculty the flexibility to adapt to personal health or family care issues as they arise while ensuring a continuity of instruction for our students.
• If you are a member of UAOSU, you have until 5 pm today to vote to ratify our raises for AY 2021-2024. Check your email for your ballot (including your spam folder). Email us at info@uaosu.org if you have any questions.
• Your membership empowers us to negotiate better pay and safer working conditions for you and your colleagues, and we appreciate your support. If you haven’t had a chance, you can join your union at uaosu.org/join.

UPCOMING SESSIONS

• Wednesday, September 29th from 4:00–5:00 pm . Register here.
• Monday, October 11th from 10:00–11:00 am. Register here.

FULL UPDATE

Your UAOSU bargaining team and the administration team met from 9:30–10:30 on Tuesday, September 21st on Zoom. Thank you to the faculty who attended this session.

In this session, the administration passed a proposal on the transition to and from remote work in the case of faculty members who need to isolate or quarantine following COVID exposure, or whose family need to quarantine. Our discussion with the administration team focused, once again, on the need for clarity for faculty members who may need to quarantine with very little notice. The administration team continued to emphasize that deciding what happens to a faculty member’s classes in that situation is ultimately up to the supervisor, not the faculty member. While we might hope this would happen in a collaborative way, our fear is that the reasonable goals of faculty — say, to maintain continuity in instruction by temporarily moving a course to remote for a couple sessions — may be swept aside.

Your bargaining team passed a proposal on face coverings, which would allow faculty to continue to enforce a face coverings requirement throughout Fall term, even if campus requirements change. We know that students and faculty alike are ready for stability and clarity, and this would allow faculty to set guidelines at the start of term and see them through. This is also important to faculty members who are themselves, or who have family members, in high risk categories.

We ended the session with some additional questions. Specifically, the administration team indicated that, like those with insurance, uninsured faculty should also have access to free testing on campus, although we await additional details from them.

The next bargaining session is 4:00–5:00 on Wednesday, September 29th on Zoom. Even if you can only drop by for half an hour, your attendance matters: show the administration that faculty are watching this process.

We appreciate your support.

In solidarity,

Your bargaining team