In September, officials representing Miami declined to consider the union’s proposal of 2% raises. Staff and administrators who were not part of the unions received a 2% raise this year. Union organizers were shocked.
“It’s been very challenging,” said Cathy Wagner, an English professor and lead organizer for the faculty union.
Wagner called the raises a union-busting move, but the university says it plans to negotiate compensation when it discusses other economic issues later in negotiations.
“This is a game, at the moment, to the university,” Wagner said. “And we want faculty to understand we are in it for the long haul.”
A Miami spokeswoman said the university is committed to negotiating in good faith and eventually reaching an agreement. Officials have stressed these negotiations take time, sometimes up to a year or more.
“The University looks forward to receiving the union’s other economic proposals, including those on benefits and other economic terms of ... faculty members’ employment,” Miami Spokeswoman Alecia Lipton told the Journal-News in an email.
Representatives on both sides will be back at the collective bargaining table today. It will be the forth meeting between them, as the two sides try to work toward their first contract after state officials certified the faculty’s union in May.
Today, union leaders plan to discuss a non-discrimination proposal they claim is more robust than the current university policy. They also expect to present a proposal for academic freedom. The university has pushed back against this proposal because there is already a policy in place.
As politics and culture wars continue to infiltrate the education world, this is an important moment for educators in Ohio, Wagner said.
“Think about all the issues in the world right now. Wars, climate crisis. We need to have as much clear information as possible,” she said. “It’s really crucial that we retain academic freedom.”
Miami’s faculty union includes more than 800 tenured and tenure track faculty as well as teaching professors, clinical faculty, and lecturers. A separate librarian’s union includes more than 30 members. University officials have created a website to track and post updates on negotiations.
“Bargaining happens at the table,” reads a statement on the website, “and the university must communicate its positions and proposals to the union before sharing them with the broader university community.”
Officials are scheduled to continue negotiations on Oct. 25.
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