Who are we? We are the nontenure-track instructional staff at Michigan State University. We teach for-credit and other required courses all over campus. We are more than 700 employees who organized a union to establish a systematic way to improve our job security, health care and wages.
Why a union? We voted by more than two-to-one in favor of a union because we believe that the only way to make significant change is to act together. We now have the right to negotiate with the administration and the strength of a unified voice. The gains we will make will be secured in a legally-binding contract.
What can we change? The common concerns we hear about from colleagues are health insurance, wages, and job security. These are the very issues that we can address through organizing our colleagues and negotiating with the university administration. We can also address issues such as access to research and travel funds, representation within departments, and our role in curriculum development. Establishing a career path as nontenure-track faculty can also counteract the culture of isolation that some of us experience. The contract will also establish a grievance procedure for resolving conflicts we may have with the administration. Together we can have a voice for addressing almost any issue on campus.
Has anyone else done this? The increased dependence on so-called contingent or temporary faculty has spread widely in recent years, and the movement to improve the careers of these employees has followed closely. In Michigan, groups of nontenure-track faculty have recently organized with AFT at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University. Elsewhere in the country there have also been successes. In 1988 at Rutgers, the part-time faculty voted to join the AAUP-affiliated union, and are now jointly affiliated with AFT. The more than 3,000 lecturers of the University of California system won their first contract in 1982. In all these cases, union members have made significant improvements in job security, salary, and other issues.
What is AFT? AFT Michigan is the state organization of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, a national union representing pre-K through 12 teachers and support personnel; university faculty and graduate employees; community college instructors and administrative employees; health care employees; and state and other public employees. Here at MSU, the AFT is helping us in organizing our colleagues and negotiating our contract by providing staff assistance and the support we need to be successful. They will continue to provide this kind of support through the ratification of our first contract and beyond.
What is the process? Now that majority of nontenure-track faculty have become union members, and that our rights as a union have been certified by a state labor board election, we can begin to negotiate our first contract. These negotiations can be expected to last well into the Spring 2010 semester. In addition to the researching and negotiating the details of the contract, we will need to continue talking to members, facilitating an open dialogue about our priorities, and building a strong organization. This is the only way for us to win a contract that is our best collective interests.
What has happened so far? We have been talking to each other about these issues for more than two years and have been building strong relationships on the basis of our shared concerns. On September 6th 2008, we launched our membership drive. Since then hundreds of members have joined together to work for a better future at the University. On March 13th, we filed our petition and membership cards with the Michigan Employee Relations Commission (MERC). Since then we have finalized a bargaining unit definition, and on May 29th MERC certified the union after a two-to-one vote in favor of organizing. The bargaining committee is having its first meetings in August with an eye towards beginning negotiations with the administration in October.
How do I get involved? The first step is becoming a member by signing a UNTF membership card. Becoming a member indicates your support for collective bargaining as well gives you a voice in setting the organizations priorities. There are also a variety of other tasks that members will be taking on as we work towards negotiating and ratifying our first contract this academic year. Volunteers are needed to talk to their colleagues campus-wide, for the bargaining committee and to represent their department on the Stewards’ Council. You can volunteer by emailing us at office@untf.org or by calling the UNTF office at (517) 203-0880.
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