Vaccine Mandate: Statement of Support & Demand to Bargain

below is the "Statement of Support and Demand to Bargain" sent earlier today, August 04, 2021, by President Charles Parrish to the Administration 

08/10/20 University Budget Update: Response to President Wilson

 

Membership Q&A, Friday 07/17/20, 3-4:30 pm

The union is preparing a session to provide updates, and to take questions you may have related to campus Restart activities, Impact Bargaining, or other concerns.

See you on Friday, July 17th, 3-4:30 pm, for a Union Q&A Session.

RSVP and Question form here - for Zoom meeting info check your e-mail or contact the union's office at 313-577-1750, office@aaupaft.org

05/18/20 Bargaining Unit Update

Dear Colleagues,

It is seems like much longer than just two months since our first message about our Demand To Bargain the changes that have been necessary to adjust and adapt to the challenges presented from COVID-19, and the rapid move to remote teaching, learning, and other operations. Our members have helped ensure completion of the Winter term, grading, advising, and other vital student support, and celebrating our most recent graduates. Through our members’ collective efforts and willingness to go above and beyond in countless ways, we ensured the core mission and activities of the University were effectively served.

With the announcement of the nine Restart Committees by President M. Roy Wilson, many expressed concerns over the lack of Faculty and Academic Staff representation on the committees. President Wilson’s approach was to appoint, overwhelmingly, administrators as the members of these committees. A few Faculty members were appointed by the Administration to represent the Faculty and Academic Staff. This continuing pattern of picking the representatives of the Faculty and Academic Staff, rather than asking the Academic Senate and the Union to appoint their own representatives to these bodies, is deeply troubling. The Union and the Academic Senate objected to this. During the May 6th meeting of the Academic Senate, President Wilson acceded to their demands, and representatives appointed by them eventually became members of these committees. The complete listing and rosters for the Restart Committees, with your Union representatives identified, are available at the following link: https://wayne.edu/coronavirus/campus-restart.

While representation of the Union on these committees is an improvement to the process, it is not a substitute for the direct bargaining that we are ensuring continues with the Administration as we move through the Summer and approach the Fall. As the Restart Committees attempt to establish broad guidelines for phased return to campus in the coming weeks and months; they must also address the complex array of uncertainties for health, safety, enrollment, and external regulations that continue to evolve rapidly. These circumstances will call for continued extraordinary efforts on the part of our individual members, and the Union collectively. For Faculty, the need to plan for the flexibility to teach in one of the many options from limited face-to-face, remote, hybrid, with synchronous or asynchronous components--and being able to shift during the semester if conditions change again. Academic Staff continue to shoulder increases in scope, quantity, and complexity of their advising and support of current and incoming students throughout the Summer and into the Fall.

Although the charge of the Restart Committees is to set broad guidelines for campus, the detailed planning and implementation will rely on schools, colleges, divisions, and departments. To be successful, this structure requires local shared governance participation by Faculty and Academic Staff members who are most knowledgeable about the specific needs and solutions for each area and discipline. Please reach out to chairs, supervisors, and deans to ensure that your voices are heard in those local decision processes. 

The Administration leadership has publicly acknowledged the significant contributions and sacrifice that our members have made and continue to make. However, it needed strong action by the Academic Senate and the Union to get a place at the table in the process of setting the restart policies for the University. As your Union representatives, we continue to work on your behalf to ensure safe and equitable conditions for our shared work; and to assure the preservation of the hard-won benefits and rights in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We cannot do this effectively without your support and personal efforts in your own units. Please continue to reach out to your Union Council Representatives or directly to the Union Office team with questions, concerns, or successful practices that may be shared. As stated previously, we offer opportunities for small 'pop-up" membership Zoom meetings. Several departments and other groups have participated in the past month. As always, our strength comes from our collective efforts and support for each other.

In Solidarity,

Charlie Parrish, President

Ricardo Villarosa, Chief Negotiator

Michelle Fecteau, Executive Director

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AAUP-AFT, Local 6075

Wayne State University Chapter

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

office@aaupaft.org

04/20/20 Union Update to Bargaining Unit

Dear Colleagues,

In our last update, we shared Administrators may wish to adopt.

As we complete the Winter term, and move into the Spring/Summer and Fall terms, we face a new environment of rapid change bringing increasing levels of uncertainty. We will need to maintain a continuing strength and mutual support as a Union. This will be more critical than ever. Below is a brief summary of our ongoing negotiations with the Administration related to COVID-19 since our last update:

1. Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET)
Faculty have been notified that they have options, including opting out or waiving scores after receiving them. Exercising the waiver results in deletion of the scores for that class from the data set.

 

2. Tenure/ESS Clock
The Provost’s Office has been asking the Union for a clock stoppage for those Faculty or Academic Staff requesting such an accommodation due to COVID-19 related issues.

3. Academic Staff work-at-home
An abrupt shift to working from home created challenges for many Academic Staff related to expectations of schedule availability, hours, and productivity. While the negotiations with representatives from the Administration have been generally amicable, there were several areas that needed further clarification that have been resolved.

 

4. Remote Instruction
Challenges related to expectations, resources, and capacity needed to shift to remote instruction from campus classrooms continue to be an area of concern for our Faculty members. With the need to engage in contingency planning for the Fall semester, we continue to negotiate with the Administration.

 

5. Parking Fee Deductions
As of April 1, parking payroll deductions have been suspended. Some of our members requested cancellation of their semester parking agreements prior to the pause in deductions. Although parking policy for reinstatement includes a 30-day delay, our Union Council Parking Committee reported that the issue is being resolved for any member who submitted the cancellation request.

 

6. Return to Campus
This week, the Administration began forming a committee to plan the return to campus operations. The Union has a representative on that committee. However, we have made it clear to the Administration that mere representation on a larger committee is not a replacement for direct negotiations for matters that are mandatory subjects of bargaining.

 

7. UPDATED HR COVID-19 Page: Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the expanded Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Earlier we reported on an expansion of our Special Needs time available to use for child care during this time of school and daycare closures. As of April 1, the FFCRA and expanded FMLA provide an alternative that some members may wish to use. As there are several possible options to address a need for leave time related to child care, please contact our team to discuss the best options.

While conditions are changing quickly, we will work to provide updates on issues that will affect our members. Please continue to send inquiries and examples of issues that need to be addressed as you experience them personally or learn about them from other members. Many of the clarifications and updates to the evolving policies and practices being negotiated with the Administration are matters that our members have brought to our attention. We will monitor your messages and continue responding as promptly as possible to any inquiries that we receive.

In Solidarity,

Charlie Parrish, President
Ricardo Villarosa, Chief Negotiator
Michelle Fecteau, Executive Director

03/18/20 COVID-19 Discussions between Union & Administration

Dear Colleagues,

Last Thursday, the Union presented a Demand to Bargain[1] to the Wayne State University Administration. The purpose of the Demand was to formally bring the Union and Administration together, on behalf of our members, to work together as the University transitions to serving our students remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic—while protecting the safety and rights of our members.

The challenges we face in this unprecedented rapidly dynamic period of change require collaborative and innovative efforts from the entire WSU community. While our members continue to contribute to the large number of efforts being undertaken to ensure continuity of teaching, advising, and supporting our students, your Union representatives have begun negotiating with the Administration on your behalf. As we have observed, changes are coming on daily (if not hourly) basis. Below is a brief summary from recent days:

On Monday we, myself, our Executive Director, Michelle Fecteau and Ricardo Villarosa, our Chief Negotiator for the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations met in a conference call with senior WSU officials, including Carolyn Hafner, Interim Director of Human Relations, and Boris Baltes, Associate Provost for Academic Relations—and representatives of other unions.

We discussed a number of issues that have been raised by the actions, the WSU COVID-19 web site and other announcements, related to the dramatic actions that have been taken to address the challenges presented by the closures at the University. We raised issues related to the safety and rights of our members in this time of transition in University operations. Ms. Hafner willingly agreed to adjust the administrative language related to these matters on issues that we raised. Since that group meeting, we have continued to work directly with the Provost’s Office, to ensure consistent communication and implementation of the negotiated changes as they occur.

Ultimately, our members, faculty and academic staff who must work with students remotely, and others on a face-to-face basis, must have the technical support to carry out their responsibilities. Academic staff must be enabled to reasonably establish the terms of their work-at-home situation with their supervisors. Faculty who are shifting mid-semester to online delivery of classes must be supported with regard to assessment tools, such as SETs, and related peer/administration evaluation practices. Other discussions have related issues arising from disruptions to research activities for faculty members. We are in ongoing discussions with the Provost’s Office in relation to protection against arbitrary administrative actions by individual supervisors in these negotiations.

As matters progress, we will work to provide updates of issues that will affect us all. During these days the Union office will be staffed only sparingly as we will be working from home much of the time. However, we will monitor our emails and will continue responding as promptly as possible to any inquiries that we receive.

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[1] When the Wayne State University Administration ordered that the Spring Break would be extended a week and that all classes would cease meeting in person, and be taught online, the Union issued a demand to bargain the terms and conditions of employment that would affect the members of our bargaining unit. The demand to bargain is a formal mechanism used when an Administration acts unilaterally in matters that are legally mandatory subjects of bargaining. In other words, it forces the Administration to negotiate changes with the Union—even in rapidly changing dynamic situations.

Charles J. Parrish

Professor, Political Science

President, WSU AAUP-AFT Local 6075

Vice President At-Large, AFT Michigan

Michelle Fecteau

Executive Director

AAUP-AFT Local 6075

Ricardo Villarosa, Esq.

Grievance Coordinator & Chief Negotiator

AAUP-AFT Local 6075