EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Your bargaining team and the administration team met from 2-4 on Friday, February 2 at the Cascade Hall. We passed 2 articles to the administration team, and they returned 3 articles from our previous session. We reached a Tentative Agreement on one article: Notices.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
Use the links below to add these to your calendar.
- Wed. Feb. 14: 10am-2pm (LaSells Stewart Center)
- Fri. Feb. 16: 12-4pm (LaSells Stewart Center)
- Wed. Feb. 21: 9am-1pm (LaSells Stewart Center)
- Fri. Feb. 23: 2-4pm (LaSells Stewart Center)
FULL UPDATE
Freedom of Expression:
Having previously passed 9 articles, we welcomed 3 counter proposals from the administration team. However, before exchanging proposals, we repeated our request for clarification regarding the newly announced draft freedom of speech and expression policy. A surprisingly long discussion occurred regarding the topic. Recall from our last update that this new policy would make significant changes to the current freedom of speech policy and could affect many OSU faculty. It became clear that there is serious disagreement regarding the administration’s obligation to bargain changes to policies that are referenced in our CBA. We will continue to point to both their legal obligations and the extensive discussions we had in earlier negotiations that both favor our position.
Articles passed during this session:
- UAOSU
- Personnel Records – in particular, we are seeking specific timelines for responses rather than the current language of ‘reasonable time’.
- Non-Discrimination and Respectful Workplace – in particular, we have added ‘caste’ and a section on Respectful Workplace that provides language on respectful workplace rights, including an explicit definition of bullying..
- Administration (counter-proposals)
- Labor-Management Meetings – although we have found meetings twice a month over the past four years to be helpful in mitigating labor issues in a timely manner, the administrative team proposed a once-per-quarter meeting schedule.
- Totality of Agreement – the language offered by the administration deletes our suggested language regarding following the law. Our concern dovetails with the right of freedom of expression, as noted above.
- Notices – agreed to language regarding notification of address changes, and we have a tentative agreement.
Our website provides a table with links to the 11 articles for which we have presented proposals, along with the administration’s proposals on 3 articles. You can also find a list of the currently scheduled bargaining sessions and all bargaining updates at uaosu.org/bargaining.
The next bargaining session is 10am-2pm, Wednesday, February 14 in LaSells Stewart Center. Even if you can only drop by for half an hour, your attendance matters: Show the administration that faculty are engaging with this process.
Our power at the bargaining table comes from all of us working together as a united faculty. If you haven’t yet joined our union can do that online at uaosu.org/join.
In solidarity,
Lori Cramer and your Bargaining Team