Call for Nominations (2022 Executive Board Officers Election)

Nominations for Local Union Vice President, Treasurer, and Executive Board Member-at-Large are now being accepted.

Nomination forms must be submitted to the AAUP-AFT Union Office by close of the General Membership Meeting on Friday, April 8, 2022. Forms may be scanned and emailed to office@aaupaft.org (electronic signatures or emails of support by the nominators will be accepted). Nominations will also be accepted from the floor of the AAUP-AFT General Membership Meeting on Friday, April 8, 2022, scheduled from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm, via Zoom.

Nominators and Nominees must be current, full-dues-paying AAUP-AFT, Local 6075 members. The Membership Meeting is only open to Union members.

Please note: Nominations require two (2) signed nominators and the signed approval of the nominee. Please be sure to include a 250-word (1/2 page) bio highlighting your accomplishments, and a statement on why you are running for Union Office.

If you have any difficulties when completing/submitting the Nomination Form, please contact the Union Office at office@aaupaft.org.

Download form from this page.

Sincerely,

Sincerely,

Dan Golodner

Shawntae Mintline

Jennifer Sheridan Moss

Nominations Committee

AAUP-AFT, Local 6075

02/01/22 New Salary Equity Fund

Dear colleagues,

As you will have seen in an email from the Provost yesterday, the union and the university have agreed to set money aside to address potential salary inequities. The purpose of this program is to correct salary inequities among bargaining unit members that are not otherwise justified by differences in professional performance. Specifically, a pool of $100,000 will be established for the current (AY 21-22) selective salary review process, and a pool of $200,000 for each year of the following two selective salary review cycles (AY 22-23, AY 23-34). These funds will not be taken from negotiated compensation-increase pools.

As per the Letter of Agreement: "While the University and the Association acknowledge the importance of salary adjustments to reflect competitive changes in the academic market or reward outstanding professional contributions, the purpose of this pool is to correct inequities among bargaining unit members that are not otherwise justified by differences in professional performance.

Recommendations for salary equity adjustments may be made by the unit head in consultation with the salary committees during the selective salary review process. If a unit has multiple recommendations, they should be rank ordered in terms of importance. These recommendations should be forwarded from the Colleges to the Provost’s office. Equity adjustments shall be made at the discretion of the University, with consideration given to the salary committee requests received during the selective salary review process.

Equity adjustments shall be made at the discretion of the University, with consideration given to the salary committee requests received during the selective salary review process. Salary adjustments will be prospective only and no backpay can be awarded. As provided in the collective bargaining agreement Article XII.C.4. regarding selective salary adjustments, equity adjustments are not subject to the grievance procedure and decisions cannot be appealed. After the initial year the University and Association will discuss whether additional guidelines are needed for the remaining years of this agreement.”

We are happy about this new fund! We worked with the Provost to come to agreement quickly so it could go into effect with this year’s Salary Committee cycle. If you have questions about this process, please reach out to your union representative or Michelle Fecteau (in the union office), or the university’s Office of Faculty Affairs and Development.

In solidarity,

Danielle

= = = = = = = = = =

Danielle Aubert

President, AAUP-AFT Local 6075

Wayne State University Chapter

11/06/20 Union Bargaining Q&A Invitation

Dear Colleagues,

As we start the long process of bargaining with the WSU Administration for our new contract, your Bargaining Team will be making every effort to keep everyone informed and engaged in the deliberations. To that end, we are starting a series of Question & Answer sessions (as well as reviving our Happy Hours!) every other Friday evening. These 1-hour Zoom sessions will be a chance to be updated from, and to ask questions to, your Bargaining Team members, as well as to share a drink in solidarity.

So please join us for a conversation with your Bargaining Team, as well as with colleagues from across campus on a Zoom meeting, Friday, November 6, 2020, from 4:00 – 5:00 pm.

Bargaining Team
AAUP-AFT 6075
WSU Faculty & Academic Staff Union

08/20/20 WSU Finances Revealed

The Administration has been proclaiming a dire financial situation for the University. President Roy Wilson has been trying to convince the 14 Unions representing the faculty, academic staff and other employees to make concessions through wage cuts, layoffs and furloughs.

Your Union, AAUP-AFT Local 6075, contracted with an independent accounting expert on higher education finances to review the audited financial statements of WSU from 2014-2019 and other documents, and provide an evaluation of the University’s finances. We have received a 117 slide PowerPoint presentation that we will shortly make public.

On Thursday, August 27, from 4.00 pm - 5.00 pm, we will have a Zoom meeting to present some of the key findings from this comprehensive report.

We will show that WSU is in a strong current financial state, and we will present solutions to potential shortfalls that do not punish faculty, academic staff and other represented employees who have already made considerable sacrifices.

Please check your e-mail or contact the union's office for Zoom meeting information.

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

 

07/30/20 Wayne State in the News

Wayne State in the News

Charles J. Parrish. President, WSU AAUP-AFT, Local 6075

The report on Channel 2 brings a different perspective on the constant bragging of the Administration about raising the 6-year Black graduation rate from 6% to 21%. See the video at:

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/less-than-25-of-enrolled-black-students-at-wayne-state-graduate-within-six-years

The number of actual Black graduates fell over the past eight years, from 527 to 473. The percentage was raised by lowering the number of Black students at WSU. 

Every Black Wayne State graduate should be celebrated, but we need to do better in discharging the University's responsibility to the City where we live. President Wilson, on camera, blames the Detroit School System and social factors for the low absolute number of Black graduates, factors beyond the University's control. The question is what can we do to raise the number of Black graduates given these conditions? We cannot do this by continuing to deny more and more Black students the opportunity to enter the University. We now have a lower percentage of Black undergraduates than Eastern Michigan University.

--

Charles J. Parrish
President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter
Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan
President, AAUP Michigan Conference
Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP
5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301
Detroit, MI 48202
313.577.1750

07/30/22 Message regarding the SOM Clinical Faculty

Message to Members on Clinical Faculty in the School of Medicine

Charles J. Parrish, President, WSU AAUP-AFT, Local 6075

On July 27th the Union sent a letter to the Administration that demanded to bargain the remarkable change in a personnel policy that had been followed for decades in the School of Medicine. The first concrete steps in implementing this new policy were taken today when letters of termination were sent to all members of our clinical faculty in the School of Medicine.

We understand that the next step will be to offer them a contract renewal that is not based on their present contracts, but will treat them as new hires who will be appointed at a half-time position at a severely lower salary base. The difference in salary is proposed to be made up for the monetary losses involved by the WSUPG, the principal faculty practice plan. This is contrary to past policies and will be destructive to the goals of the School of Medicine.

Further, it will constitute a subsidy to the WSUPG, the principal faculty practice plan. By keeping the appointment at .5 full-time equivalent, the faculty will continue to be covered at the same cost by the University health benefits program so that the WSUPG does not have to offer a similar benefit.

The Schweitzer proposal will not make up the 10% retirement salary match that faculty members presently receive from the University on their higher salary level. The base for the retirement match, given the much lower salary being offered, will also be much lower than it is under the present contract.

The Administration has responded to our letter demanding to bargain the policy changes we cited in our July 27th letter and has agreed to schedule talks with the Union. They also argue that there has been no change in personnel policy and that they have the power to proceed as they are now. We will meet with their bargaining representatives and keep you informed of the negotiations as they progress. We still have two months between now and the September 30th termination date. Let us hope that the Administration will be reasonable and we can come to a satisfactory resolution of this unfortunate situation.

Stay tuned.

Charlie

--
Charles J. Parrish
President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter
Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan
President, AAUP Michigan Conference
Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP
5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301
Detroit, MI 48202
313.577.1750

07/27/20 Governor O'Brien's Response to President Wilson-Demand to Bargain

Dear Colleagues:

The following is Governor Sandra Hughes O'Brien's message to President Wilson regarding the Demand to Bargain and the situation with the Clinical Faculty in the School of Medicine.

============================================================

Date: 07/27/2020 11:39 AM

Subject: Re: Demand to Bargain -- School of Medicine Clinical Faculty

Roy, what in the world is going on? By my calculations, this is the 3rd time I've asked why your Dean is moving forward with this plan. My requests have been met with silence. The governing board has not been advised as to the strategy behind this move, despite requests. This is totally unacceptable. Perhaps my prior requests were unclear; so I'll make this quite plain...What is the purpose or strategy of a move like this? 

A Dean of a college or school has neither the power nor authority to unilaterally change the faculty salaries of an entire school/college by purposefully sidestepping the Union; ignoring the negotiated collective bargaining agreement; and deliberately concealing his intentions from the governing board. I sincerely hope that your Dean is not trying to sidestep the Union and the Board concerning faculty salaries. Schweitzer was not hired to undermine University policy and process. Violating University policies and process and attempting to sidestep or undermine our rules and regulations around the salaries of our faculty would be the surest way for a dean to find himself on the bad side of the Board and that never ends well.

Schweitzer trying to force this unilateral move makes me think that you're trying to balance the university's books on the backs of our revenue-generating clinical faculty. But I wouldn't know, because you've not kept us informed.

No compensation documents should be sent to any of our represented faculty without a negotiation with the Union under the Collective Bargaining Agreement followed by approval of any compenstaion action by the Board. No faculty member should feel obligated to sign any document that has not been transparently negotiated with the Union on their behalf under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and then submitted to the Board for approval.

Non-transparency does not work. You need to fix this now.

Thank you!
Sandy
Sandy Hughes O'Brien, Esq.

==========================
Charlie
--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

07/27/20 Demand to Bargain -- School of Medicine Clinical Faculty

Good Morning, Boris:

Attached please find a Demand to Bargain regarding Clinical Faculty in the School of Medicine.

Please contact me regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Charlie

--

Charles J. ParrishPresident, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU ChapterVice President-at-Large, AFT MichiganPresident, AAUP Michigan ConferenceMember-at-Large, National Council, AAUP5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301Detroit, MI 48202313.577.1750

07/22/20 Update on Negotiations with the Wilson Administration

Negotiations with the Wilson Administration

Charles J. Parrish, President

WSU AAUP-AFT, Local 6075

Your Union is presently engaged in a negotiation with the Wilson Administration over their proposal that we give up our raises for this year as a contribution to the financial well-being of the University. Our response has been a proposal that the Administration be willing to address some parts of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that we believe can be changed to provide better conditions for a significant number of our members. So far, the Administration has not been willing to discuss anything beyond what our members might give up financially. However, regular meetings of negotiators on both sides continue to be scheduled. A significant context of the discussions has been the considerable expansion of the managerial class at the University over the period of the Wilson Administration and the concomitant contraction of the number of members of or bargaining unit. Moreover, the disproportionate allocation of resources to the salaries of administrators, including the President, has been a characteristic of the Wilson Administration.

Administrative Bloat. There are several dimensions that make the Union look with a jaundiced eye on the proposal that the Faculty and Academic Staff give up their raises for this year to help the financial problems of the University as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. First, the record of the Administration on allocating resources for the expansion of the management class at the University is clear. The Administration has stated that 47% of the General Fund is devoted to the salaries and benefits for the 1800 or so members of the Faculty and Academic Staff. In contrast, it admits that 37% of it goes to the many non-represented administrators. The top managerial class sector of these administrators has expanded by 22% since President Wilson was hired in 2013, from 259 to 315 persons. Simply put, administrative bloat is an important source of costs to the University. Considering the sacrifices already made, and continuing, by our members in the present crisis, we are loath to agree to salary concessions in addition to these. It is the Union’s position that administrative costs must be addressed before we can agree that our members should give up a single dollar of their negotiated raises for this year.

Unknown Revenue. Second, what the final financial situation of the University will be at the outset of the fiscal year on October 1st is unknown. Student tuition income is the major source of funding (63% in 2019-2020) and how many students are coming to the University this fall is uncertain. The latest report on July 20th, is that we are ahead of last year’s registration rate as of the same date last year. At the undergraduate level, it is up by 4.45%, and overall, it is ahead by almost 2%. Until the final registration results are in, we will not know what tuition income will be for the year.

Financial Analysis. Third, the Union has commissioned an analysis of the financial situation of the University and what alternatives we might look to in order to get through the present crisis. The analysis will explore alternatives for addressing the many financial shortfalls that will result from the present crisis. As soon as the analysis is done, we will share it with the Administration, our members and the public.

Presidential Compensation. Fourth, the controversy continues over the extremely lucrative contract awarded President Wilson with the key votes of the two lame-duck members of the Board of Governors (BOG) in their last meeting before leaving the Board, having been defeated in the November, 2018 elections. This vote initiated the split on the BOG that continues until today. In the midst of the present situation in which the Administration is maintaining that there are serious financial challenges, President Wilson is scheduled to get a raise in total compensation on July 31st from $654,419 to $904,000, a 38% increase (his compensation includes deferred income). There has been no suggestion the President will not accept his increase while asking our members to give up their 2.5% raise for the year. The combined amount of the raise for our members is $6.6 million. This means, that of the amount we are being asked to give up, about 4% will go to the compensation increase for President Wilson.

The table below from The Chronicle of Higher Education shows a result that richly favors President Wilson's personal situation. The compensation of the WSU presidents increased by 70% over nine years. President Wilson’s contract raises his compensation by the end of this month to $904,000, a rise in WSU presidential compensation of 137% over what it was a decade ago. Nice job if you can keep it!

Conclusion. Finally, we are being asked to give up our raises for the year by a President who has not thought carefully enough about the overall situation. We need documentation of what sacrifices the administrators, including President Wilson, are making before we will agree to any plan that involves our members sacrificing their annual raise this year. Everyone should remember, we have pledged that any proposal that is agreed to will be submitted to our members for ratification.

We will keep you updated.

Sincerely,

Charlie

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

07/14/20 Coalition of Unions Demands for Appropriate Policies During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Dear Wayne State University Board of Governors and President Wilson,

Please find attached [i.e. below] a letter written and co-signed by 12 Unions and students, including the Student Senate, regarding campus public health during Covid-19.

Faculty, academic staff and students join with building trades and grounds workers, engineers, dining workers, custodians, clerical staff and police officers to make the following requests during the Covid-19 pandemic: guaranteed paid leave, dropping disciplinary charges for absences related to Covid-19, continuing flexible work arrangements, training for supervisors in administering leave during Covid-19, and free rapid testing on campus.

Additionally, we respectfully invite members of the Board of Governors and the Administration to meet with the Coalition of Unions regarding our concerns related to Covid-19.

Sincerely,Tom Anderson, ChairCoalition of Unions at WSU

**********************************************************************

Wayne State University Leave Time During the Covid-19 Pandemic

DEMANDS FOR APPROPRIATE POLICIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

BY THE COALITION OF UNIONS & STUDENTS at WSU

July 14, 2020

Building trades and grounds workers, engineers, dining workers, custodians, clerical staff and police officers are among the Wayne State workers who have returned to work—or who have remained on campus—since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For everyone’s safety, it is critical that anyone who could possibly carry the deadly coronavirus not feel compelled to come to campus. The Wayne State University guidelines rightly instruct employees that, “If you have symptoms or have been exposed, stay home.”

It is, therefore, imperative to employee and public safety that the Wayne State University Administration provide appropriate leave policies, clearly articulated to all levels of management, that encourage, not discourage, possible carriers of the disease from coming to campus, particularly if they exhibit Covid-19 symptoms or have been exposed to someone who exhibits Covid-19 symptoms. Policies that do not provide adequate paid leave time put employees in an impossible position of choosing between risking their livelihoods or risking public safety.

United in our concern for the Wayne State University community, the Coalition of Unions at WSU requests the following policies be implemented immediately across WSU:

1. PAID LEAVE

All workers, both on and off campus, should receive “no questions asked” paid leave if they have been exposed to Covid-19, exhibit symptoms of Covid-19, or are caring for a family member with Covid-19 symptoms. This goes into effect retroactively to cover workers who have already given up vacation and/or accrued days to cover Covid-19 related absences.

2. DROP DISCIPLINARY CHARGES

Disciplinary measures against employees who report Covid-19 related absences are suspended, and discipline for past Covid-19 related absences is removed.

3. FLEXIBLE WORK

Flexible work-from-home arrangements should continue to be provided. Administration must show sufficient justification that an employee's presence on campus is essential before requiring them to return in person. Special consideration is given to those caring for children, as well as those caring for other family members.

4. TRAIN SUPERVISORS

All supervisors receive up-to-date training on all relevant sick leave policies.

5. FREE RAPID TESTING ON CAMPUS

Provide free rapid testing to identify Covid-19 as quickly as possible when it arrives on campus. Rapid tests would allow employees to either return to work or quarantine immediately, rather than waiting up to two weeks for results.

6. INVITATION TO MEET

Members of the Administration and the Board of Governors are invited to meet with the Coalition of Unions to hear recommendations from those who have been working and maintaining buildings on campus during the pandemic.

Elaboration on the above points:

1. PAID LEAVE

Although the Administration has implemented a number of Covid-19 related enhancements augmenting established and contractual sick leave policies, they do not cover all situations and all people sufficiently. The WSU Shared Sick/Illness Time Pool provides a maximum of 14 days of paid leave and is dependent on others donating their time. Employees in skilled trades are ineligible, since they do not have agreements that provide accrued sick time, which is one of the requirements. The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides only two (2) weeks of Emergency Paid Leave. There is a provision for another 10 weeks through an expansion of FMLA, but this is limited to caring for a child under the age of 18. It does not include caring for a spouse, parent, and other family members. The federal benefits in FFCRA end in December 2020.

A guaranteed University-wide Covid-19 paid leave policy could be accomplished through expanding coverage and supplementing the WSU Shared Sick/Illness Time Pool with sufficient funding to cover all employees absent from work for Covid-19 related reasons.

2. DROP DISCIPLINARY CHARGES

Employees who report Covid-19-related absences should be believed, not threatened. Employment policies that discipline and terminate employees who accumulate more than a limited number of absences—even when caused by Covid-19 related situations—put the entire WSU community at risk. There should be no disincentive to staying home when sick with or when exposed to Covid-19.

3. FLEXIBLE WORK

With increased caretaking demands due to closures of child care centers, school buildings, and care services for family members because of the pandemic, many employees have relied on WSU’s Flexible Work Arrangement if eligible and, where available, paid family leave policies to maintain their employment. A number of employees required to come to campus struggle with managing caregiving during this time. Retaining these experienced and valuable employees is essential to the University’s continued success.

4. TRAIN SUPERVISORS

We have found that a number of frontline administrators are unaware of or not properly administering available options for paid leave. This creates both unnecessary stress for employees and risk to the Wayne State community. Some workers have been told to use vacation days when caring for others with Covid-19. Others with mild symptoms who were waiting on Covid-19 test results lost time from their regular sick day bank when this should have been covered by Federal Paid Emergency Leave. As more and more Wayne State employees return to work, this problem will intensify.

5. FREE RAPID TESTING ON CAMPUS

It is critical for workers returning to campus to have access to free Covid-19 testing. We support the efforts by the Public Health Subcommittee of the WSU Restart Committee to provide periodic testing and contact tracing for individuals residing on campus. We request that the same periodic testing and contact tracing be extended to all campus workers. When a case of Covid-19 is identified, we demand that a properly protected and equipped custodial crew sanitize all spaces.

6. INVITATION TO MEET

The Coalition of Unions has formed a Health and Safety Working Group because we know that not all campus workers are represented on the university restart committees. The restart committees are, for the most part, led by administrators. We extend an open invitation to members of the administration and the Board of Governors to meet with the Coalition of Unions to hear directly from Wayne State workers from across campus.

Respectfully submitted by the Coalition of Unions and students at Wayne State:

AFSCME Local 1497, Custodial Staff

AAUP-AFT Local 6075, Faculty & Academic Staff

Graduate Employees Organizing Committee, GEOC AFT Local 6123

IBEW Local 58

IUOE Local 325, Operating Engineers

Teamsters Local 337, Dining Staff

UniteHere! Local 24, Custodial Staff

UAW Local 1979 Professional & Administrative Staff (P&A)

UAW Local 2071 Staff Association

UPTF AFT Local 477, Part-Time Faculty

WSU Police Officers Association

WSU Skilled Trades

WSU Student Senate

WSU Young Democratic Socialists of America

Endorsements for August 4, 2020 Primary Election

Dear Colleagues:

Below are endorsements for the August 4, 2020 Primary Election in Michigan.

Please, we encourage you to vote by mail, and if you do vote in-person, mask up and practice social distancing.

For more information on voting, please visit the Secretary of State's Michigan Voter Information Center


In Solidarity,

Dan Golodner
Chair
Political Action Committee
AAUP-AFT Local 6075

********************************************************************

The AAUP-AFT, Local 6075 Political Action Committee is pleased to share with you the endorsements from the Michigan AFL-CIO for the August 4th MI primaries. Your PAC was involved with this endorsement process by participating in the review and interview process of candidates. We are proud to stand by these endorsements. If you would like to be a part of the PAC, please reach out to the Union: office@aaupaft.org or (313) 577-1750.

For a stronger voice locally on political issues, please donate to PAC: AFTMichigan.org/pac
Information on the elections for Prosecuting Attorneys: SmartJusticeMI.org
For more information about your local elections and to create a personalized voting guide, please go to Vote411.org

MI AFL-CIO Endorsements

Supreme Court
    

    Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack

    Elizabeth Welch

State Board of Education
    

    Ellen Cogen Lipton
    Jason Strayhorn

United States Senate

    Sen Gary Peters

United States Congress (August Primary)

    Hilary Scholten (3rd District)
    Rep Dan Kildee (5th District)
    State Rep Jon Hoadley (6th District)
    Gretchen Driskell (7th District)
    Rep Elissa Slotkin (8th District)
    Rep Andy Levin (9th District)
    Kim Bizon (10th District)
    Rep Haley Stevens (11th District)
    Rep Debbie Dingell (12th District)
    Rep Rashida Tlaib (13th District)
    Rep Brenda Lawrence (14th District)

Michigan State House (August Primary)

    Rep Tenisha Yancey (1st District)
    Rep Joe Tate (2nd District)
    Donavan McKinney (3rd District)
    Abraham Aiyash (4th District – Primary and Special Election)
    Rep Cynthia A. Johnson (5th District)
    Rep Tyrone Carter (6th District)
    Cynthia Thornton (7th District)
    Stephanie Young (8th District)
    Roslyn Ogburn (9th District)
    Kevin Harris (10th District)
    Rep Jewell Jones (11th District)
    Rep Alex Garza (12th District)
    Tullio Liberati (13th District)
    Rep Cara Clemente (14th District)
    Rep Abdullah Hammoud (15th District)
    Rep Kevin Coleman (16th District)
    Christopher Slat (17th District)
    Rep Kevin Hertel (18th District)
    Rep Laurie Pohutsky (19th District)
    Rep Matt Koleszar (20th District)
    Ranjeev Puri (21st District)
    Richard Steenland (22nd District)
    Rep Darrin Camilleri (23rd District)
    Rep Steve Marino (24th District)
    Alex Bronson (24th District)
    Rep Nate Shannon (25th District)
    Rep Jim Ellison (26th District)
    Regina Weiss (27th District)
    Rep Lori Stone (28th District)
    Rep Brenda Carter (29th District)

    Rep William Sowerby (31st District)
    Rep Cynthia Neeley (34th District)
    Rep Kyra Bolden (35th District)
    Samantha Steckloff (37th District)
    Kelly Breen (38th District)
    Julia Pulver (39th District)
    Rep Mari Manoogian (40th District)
    Rep Padma Kuppa (41st District)
    Nicole Breadon (43rd District)
    Brendan Johnson (45th District)
    Jody LaMacchia (46th District)
    Rep Sheryl Kennedy (48th District)
    Rep John Cherry Jr. (49th District)
    Rep Tim Sneller (50th District)
    Rep Donna Lasinski (52nd District)
    Rep Yousef Rabhi (53rd District)
    Rep Ronnie Peterson (54th District)
    Felicia Brabec (55th District)

07/08/20 Relations with the WSU Administration in the Context of Covid-19

This is to keep you informed of the progress of the efforts to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis by the University. The Union leadership is still at the beginnings of a conversation with the Administration over the financial response to the crisis. It is as yet unknown how many students will register and pay the tuition that provides almost two-thirds of the University’s general fund during the current fiscal year. We will keep you informed as the discussions progress.

I want to commend the Administration for initiating the formation of the Restart Committee and its various subcommittees to address the University’s response to the various dimensions of the crisis we collectively face in our institution. The work of the Committee and its subcommittees has been for the most part sensible and helpful to meeting the challenges faced by the University in these difficult times. However, the process of forming the committees raised some important issues.

Representation on Restart Committees. Unfortunately, it was a struggle to get representation of the Faculty and Academic Staff in the membership of the Restart Committee and its subcommittees. The chief manner in which we have a voice in the operation of the University is through the organizations in which we elect our own leaders: our Academic Senate and our Union. In short, our instruments of academic governance and of our representatives who negotiate our terms and conditions of employment. The divergence between the interests of administrators, who have increasingly come to dominate colleges and universities and those of the people who actually deliver the services that justify their existence has become increasingly obvious. A recent book by Benjamin Ginsberg, The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters (Oxford University Press, 2011) is but one useful example of many examinations of this phenomenon. It is ironic that intellectuals wage their wars with the ever-burgeoning assemblages of higher education administrators by writing down their ideas. They often assume that their arguments, if made forcefully enough, will win the day. Their opponents, the administrators, for the most part, wage these wars of ideas by ignoring them and working every day to accumulate power memorandum by memorandum.

President Wilson Insists on His Right to Choose Senate Representatives. The COVID-19 crisis provided the grounds for yet another skirmish between these forces at WSU. The first impulse of President Wilson was to appoint members of these Restart Committees without consulting either the Senate or the Union. He maintained to the Senate President that he could appoint representatives of the Senate instead of them being appointed by the Senate itself. In the initial appointments of administrators to the Committees, those who held retreat positions on the Faculty were identified by an asterisk as Faculty representatives when memberships on these groups were initially published on the University’s website. For example, the Dean of CLAS, as with other such administrators, were identified as Faculty members.

Following protests by the Academic Senate, President Wilson added representatives chosen by the Senate and the Union with one significant exception. The President of the Senate was designated by the Senate Policy Committee for membership in the Finance Restart Subcommittee. President Wilson refused to appoint her to it. The struggle to get President Wilson to recognize the right of the Senate to appoint its own representatives to University committees continues.

For example, the President is in the process of establishing a “Social Justice Action Committee.” In a memorandum to the Senate President he stated: “Faculty representation will be important and I am requesting that you and the Policy Committee of the Academic Senate provide me with fifteen names of potential faculty from which I can select five to be on the various subcommittees.” It is clear that he is committed to the patronizing principle that the Senate cannot be trusted to designate its own representatives. On the five committees that make up the Social Justice Action Committee (no central committee was named), roughly half of those named as members are administrators, there were five unnamed Academic Senate slots on four committees and four student slots on one committee. The AAUP-AFT was not asked for names for appointment to any of the committees.

The charge to the committees from President Wilson is: “(1) examining internal policies, procedures, and practices to identify and eliminate bias throughout the Wayne State University campus that may disproportionately disadvantage historically marginalized peoples, and (2) recommend specific actions for consideration of immediate, short term, medium term, and long term implementation to advance social justice and equity for historically marginalized peoples at Wayne State University.”

Social Justice and Race at WSU. In establishing the Social Justice Committee, the President does not ask that it focus on the University’s obligation to the city of Detroit within which it lives. I would hope that the Committee would examine the issue of what we could do to raise the number of our Black graduates. President Wilson and his senior administrators have been celebrating the increased percentage of Black students graduating from the University. I have suggested that the effusive self-congratulations should be tempered by the fact that during his Administration, the number of Black students at the University has declined dramatically, and there are no policies in place to address this issue. When President Wilson came to Wayne State in 2013, we graduated 527 Black students. This year, we graduated 473 Black students, 10 percent fewer. My communication, slightly revised, to the Board of Governors that deals with this issue is attached. Also attached is a copy of Governor Sandra Hughes O’Brien comments published in Deadline Detroit on this same subject. The pertinent question is what should be the social justice action responsibilities to the community of a university situated in the heart of a city with a population that is 80 percent Black, with half of its children below the poverty level. Why is Wayne State’s Administration committed to a program that touts a higher graduation percentage based on a falling number of Black graduates and a dwindling number of Black students?

Conclusion. It would be much better for the University if President Wilson was a leader who welcomed criticism and was not resistant to the kind of vigorous debate that would be involved in a strong system of shared governance that is envisioned in the Annotated Code of the Board of Governors that states: “… [the] Senate has authority and responsibility for the formulation and review of educational policy affecting the University as a whole.” (2.26.04) Important questions, such as that of social justice and race, should be topics for robust debate within the Senate and between an independent Senate and President Wilson and his administrators. That would be good for the University.

Sincerely,

Charlie
--

Charles J. Parrish
President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter
Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan
President, AAUP Michigan Conference
Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP
5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301
Detroit, MI 48202
313.577.1750

06/29/20 Consulting on Budget Cuts

When President Wilson dictated that there should be plans developed to meet possible revenue shortfalls of five percent and ten percent, it seemed to be a prudent measure to take. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details. As the Deans and other administrators got their orders, a number of them executed a matador’s veronica and let the bull pass by them and impale the units below them. There are over 80 departments in the University and many other units, some small and some very large. In many cases, even the smallest of these units were charged with coming up with recommendations for cuts at the five and ten percent levels for each unit.

The budgets of these lower units have little fat. Mostly their budgets are taken up with payroll expenditures over which they have minimal control. Part-time budgets are flexible, but it is often an exercise in self-destruction to offer to cut them. The dollars spent on part-time faculty are the best return on investment in the budget. These faculty members generate many times more in tuition revenue than it costs to pay them. The same can be said of Lecturers. They constitute 12% of the faculty, but teach large numbers of students who pay tuition for the many credit hours they generate.

Yet the departments are pushed by circumstance to offer up cuts in part-time faculty and term-contract faculty members, chiefly Lecturers. Telephone budgets have already been cut to the bone. Cutting payments for copier paper and paper clips are not likely to help much in reaching the announced budget goals. The role of Academic Staff is not as deeply appreciated as they should be. The key functions of advising, counseling, scheduling and many other activities are not as likely to be represented on unit budget committees as are other academic activities.

Departmental and College and School budget advisory committees should not hesitate to push back and ask that they be advised of the Dean’s budget priorities and what the cuts are at the Dean’s Office level. Sources for cuts are such things as salary savings in departments from retirements. But, these positions are under the control of the Deans, not the departments. Deans routinely take control of retirement positions as soon as the retirement occurs. When the Dean does not allow a department to replace a retiring faculty member, it is a cut that must be absorbed by a department that must accommodate its program offerings accordingly.

What are departmental committees to do when the demand for the five and ten percent budget cut goals are pushed down to the lowest unit level? They can be put into the position of recommending the cutting of departmental programs where there are only one or two faculty members in them. Or, they can be pushed into recommending that Lecturers or non-tenure-track term faculty be non-renewed. There should be resistance at the departmental level to this.

Program discontinuance is covered under Article X of the Collective Bargaining Contract. If your Dean (or your chair) asks for a recommendation to drop a particular program, you can refer them to that Article. It is worthwhile for you to review Article X for information. The discontinuance of a program is a difficult and complicated process in which the department gets a chance to defend its preservation.

As you know, the Union is presently in negotiations with the Administration over the impact of the present crisis on the members of our bargaining unit. The first meeting of the two sides took place June 26th. It was primarily an organizational meeting and it went well. We will keep you informed about the progress of these talks.

Sincerely,

Charlie

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

06/29/20 ASSC Officers Election results

Dear Colleagues:

The results of the recently held election of the Academic Staff Steering Committee have been certified, and the results are as follows:

Co-Chair -- Paul Bishop
Secretary -- Brandon Shamoun
Members-at-Large -- Daisy Cordero and Mershawn Gayden

We want to thank all of you for your participation and continued support of the Union and the ASSC. It's the support of members like you that keep our Union strong!

Our congratulations to the new Committee members, and our sincere appreciation to those who ran for office and didn't prevail. Remember, there's always next year, and we'll be counting on you!

In solidarity,
Charlie

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI  48202

313.577.1750

06/25/20 Status of Negotiations

Dear Colleagues: 

The Union is continuing the Impact Bargaining that began in March with the Administration. The most recent issues relate to whether or not the Faculty and Academic Staff will make concessions in their salary and benefits, in response to the request to do so, voluntarily, by the University in the current COVID-19 crisis. As in any negotiation, each side wishes to make the best possible argument. The Administration is likely to try to keep the focus on the General Fund, as it has tried to do in meetings with the Academic Senate Budget Committee and in the Finance Subcommittee of the Restart Committee. The Administration has recognized that if there are concessions to be made by the Faculty and Academic Staff, they must seek the agreement of the Union.

The Administration’s position, based on presentations to the Academic Senate and others, has emphasized that there should be concessions by our members in order to avoid cuts in various units. The Administration has already sent instructions that units must submit plans as to how to absorb projected five and ten percent budget cuts. Doing this before we have a clear understanding of what the revenue will be for the coming year creates a climate, whether intended or not, that pressures our members to consider supporting individual or department level “voluntary” concessions in some form. It is contrary to the Collective Bargaining Agreement for individual administrators, individual Union members, or internal academic governance committees, to agree to “voluntary” changes in terms of employment of bargaining unit members. It is critical for all to understand that regardless of well-meaning intentions to help, or because of basic communitarian values on their part, it is the exclusive role of the Union to negotiate changes in wages, hours, or working conditions for the members of our bargaining unit.

The Union’s position in these discussions is based on several factors:

During the time that President M. Roy Wilson has been in office, the number of managerial administrators has grown from 453 to 539, a 19% increase. The number of tenured and tenure-track Faculty fell over that time from 1143 to 899, a 21% decline. The non-tenure-track Faculty (Clinicians and Lecturers, mostly) increased slightly from 713 in 2013, to 730 in 2018. Lecturers within this group increased from about 173 to 217. The question of how to cut administrative costs will have an important role in the discussions.

The increase in the ranks of full-time contingent Faculty has been accompanied by a significant decrease in job security for this same group through non-renewals, and limiting term renewals to single year appointments. One of the important items that will be on the discussion agenda will be securing greater job security for Clinicians and Lecturers.

The financial discussions will not be limited only to examining the General Fund for possible solutions, but will be conducted within the context of all of the assets of the University that might be brought to bear during this crisis period.

We are prioritizing our responses to proposals for concessions, if any, to limiting the long term effects on the incomes of our members. We are particularly concerned with protecting the salaries of those in our lower income levels.

Each side has named a team of representatives in these negotiations. The Administration team is led by Associate Provost for Academic Personnel, Boris Baltes. He is joined by Ms. Rebecca Cook, Interim Vice President for Finance, and Ms. Carolyn Hafner, Interim Vice President for Human Relations. The Union team is led by Ricardo Villarosa, Esq., Chief Negotiator. Professor Deborah Ellis, Union Vice President-Elect and Paul Beavers, Union Treasurer, Chair of the Academic Senate Budget Committee, and the Union’s representative on the Finance Subcommittee of the Restart Committee, complete the Union team. The first meeting is on Friday, June 26th.

We will provide periodic updates on the progress of the talks, and will be asking members to ratify whatever proposal is agreed upon by the two sides.

In solidarity,

Charlie Parrish, President

Ricardo Villarosa, Esq., Chief Negotiator

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, AAUP

5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

06/22/20 Message Regarding School of Medicine Clinicians

Dear Colleagues:

Latest Administration Proposal.

It is difficult to imagine that physicians - members of a greatly esteemed profession, can be transformed into threatened and exploited employees. Yet, this is the case of the clinicians on the faculty of the Wayne State University School of Medicine (SOM).

The Failures of WSUPG Leadership.

The story of the leadership of the WSU SOM is not one of unvarnished success. In fact, it is the opposite. Most medical schools of the size of ours have over 1,000 clinicians who generate an income stream for their medical schools through their provision of services to patients. At Wayne, that number currently stands at around 300. The number of faculty clinicians at Wayne has decreased substantially over the past five years with a corresponding revenue decline that was a major factor in the bankruptcy of the Wayne State University physician practice plan, UPG. The departure of the overwhelming number of the faculty clinicians in Pediatrics to the medical school at Central Michigan has only worsened this situation. During the past five years, neither the WSU SOM nor the UPG have been attractive places for clinicians to work, and they have had problems recruiting clinicians and keeping them as employees. While the WSU UPG may have emerged from bankruptcy, its shaky financial situation has not been overcome. That Dean Mark Schweitzer announced cuts in the salaries of UPG clinicians of 20% in May, 30% in June and 50% in July is not an indicator of a stable financial situation. In any organization that finds itself in such a situation: the responsibility first falls on management.

Uncertainties in the Relationship between the SOM and UPG.

The situation of the faculty clinicians in the SOM is uncertain at best under the present situation and proposed changes. These faculty members have been paid until now from two sources: the University and the UPG (or one of the other smaller practice plans). They mostly have year-to-year term contracts with the University and a separate employment contract with their practice plans. Mostly, their contracts end in September, 2020. It was the Dean’s proposal that such faculty members be terminated on that date and be employed in the future solely by their practice plans. That plan has been superseded by a newly announced plan. The average period of service for the clinical faculty is almost two decades, with the dates of first hire going as far back as the 1970s. These faculty entered academic medicine due to a commitment to scholarship, teaching and service and have served the University for many years. The Dean’s proposals erases the basis for this and transforms our clinicians from faculty colleagues into ordinary employees of a business enterprise. Although alternative proposals have been generated in the past few days, each is likely to have the same outcome if allowed to be implemented.

Within the practice plans, employees have at-will contracts under which they can be terminated for any reason, or no reason, with only 60-days notice. In addition, there is a non-compete provision whereby if the clinician leaves or is terminated by the practice plan, she/he cannot be employed in the Metropolitan Detroit area. Moreover, the benefits in health insurance and retirement provided under the practice plans are in no way comparable to those provided by the clinicians’ present University appointments.

Latest Administrative Action.

Vice Dean for Financial Affairs, Douglas Skrzyniarz has announced that the Administration would unilaterally impose a new compensation scheme for members of our clinical faculty. There is no doubt that this would constitute a change in the salaries, terms and conditions of employment for these faculty members. There was no negotiation with the Union over these changes. The Administration has been notified that implementation of these new compensation rules cannot be carried out until they are negotiated with the Union. Our present Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) does not end until March, 2021. Our notice to the Administration is attached to this message.

Academic Governance.

The University gives lip service to the idea that it operates under constraints exercised by the operation of the structures of academic governance. In the WSU School of Medicine, there are regular elections to the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, which is made up of all faculty members on at least one-half time appointments. The Senate elects the members of the Executive Committee, which is charged to: “advise the Dean on matters of policy pertaining to the functioning and organization of the School.” Article VII of the Bylaws lays out the committees of the Senate that deal with important academic governance activities, making decisions on salary increases, promotion and tenure, advising the Dean on the finances of the School through the Budget Committee, and on Curriculum, Technology, Graduate Affairs and Research. These committees are replicated in each department to carry out similar functions at that level.

Participation in such activities of academic governance is commensurate with being a faculty member. It provides responsibility and professional autonomy. If the Dean’s proposal is implemented, all of these professional activities on the part of the affected clinicians will be lost. In addition, their critical contributions to multiple activities within the broader University mission will likewise be lost. They may no longer be professors, but could become employees of the practice plan which has no structures comparable to those of academic governance that ensure participation in the formulation of the policies.

Who has power over what?

A consideration that one must always take into account when thinking about organizations is the structure of power within them. Power in the practice plans is overwhelmingly in the hands of management. The setting of the monetary value of work units (used to compensate clinicians), the administering of patient appointments, and the general management of the delivery of patient services are all in the hands of the managers. When there is a change in policies, there is no requirement that management consult with those who are most affected by them. The reality is that, while the rationale for changing the employment situation of our clinicians is that the SOM is in a financial crisis, the result is also that it further concentrates power in the hands of the Dean. If his proposal had been adopted, every clinician would be more under his personal power. He is already in a position of dominant power through his present control of the WSUPG. But, increasing one’s control over a shrinking organization may be self-defeating in the longer run.

What Solutions Are There?

Not surprisingly, our solution is to do what good unions do: organize and represent the interests of the organized vigorously. That is the intention of the Union leadership. We have filed our objection with the Administration. We are expanding our consultation with our clinical faculty members. If the Administration is not responsive to our demand to bargain we have a number of legal remedies, and we intend to employ all of those to which we need resort. The Administration is attempting unilaterally to change the salaries, terms, and conditions of employment without bargaining them with the Union as they must. We are opposing this action on behalf of the clinical faculty members we represent.

In Solidarity,

Charlie

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council 

AAUP 5057 

Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750

 

06/11/20 MEETING WITH DEAN MARK SCHWEITZER

Dear Colleagues:

I had a meeting this morning with Dean Mark Schweitzer. It was a get-to-know you meeting arranged by the previous Dean, Jack Sobel, who also participated in the meeting.

After the usual pleasantries, current issues dominated the conversation. Of these, the one that took up most of the conversation was Dean Schweitzer’s floating of a proposal that all Clinical Faculty members be terminated as of September 30th, and become solely employees of the Wayne State University Physicians Group (WSUPG). They would no longer be regular WSU Faculty members as of that date. Many of these Clinicians have been on the WSU Faculty for decades, almost 50 of them were hired during the 1990’s, and some as far back as the 1970’s. An estimated 250 or so Faculty members would be affected.

I pointed out to Dean Schweitzer how unpopular the proposal was among the Faculty members of the Medical School. Many of the Clinicians felt that they were not being respected despite their many years of service to the University. Dean Schweitzer explained that he was having to deal with many problems, some of which were related to the bankruptcy of the WSUPG. (He had had to announce a cut in the WSUPG salaries by 20, 30 and 50 percent over the next three months in order to address its financial problems.) In this context, and that of the experience of the last several years in which outside consultants had a dominant role in SOM affairs, it should come as no surprise that the Faculty members being affected by the proposal viewed it with a jaundiced eye.

A consideration of many of the Faculty Clinicians also had to do with changes in health and retirement benefits that would come with a change to full employment solely in the WSUPG. Further, where employment as a WSU Faculty member was guaranteed by a term contract of a year or longer, employment contracts in the WSUPG can be terminated with only 60-days’ notice. The contracts also contain non-compete clauses that would prevent a dismissed Clinician from taking another job in the Detroit Metropolitan Area for a significant period of time.

Dean Schweitzer listened carefully and articulated his perspective throughout a reasonable discussion. Former Dean Sobel commented that the new Dean had been appointed in a difficult time, in the midst of a “tsunami.” I agreed with this, but there was no doubt that the Dean’s proposal had a strong, and, perhaps unanticipated, impact throughout the School. Dean Schweitzer recognized this and, without a clear commitment to particular future actions, stated that he appreciated my frank contributions to the discussion. I said that that would always be my approach to communications with him in the future.

The meeting ended with no commitment on the Dean’s part with respect to the controversial proposal. However, he also had not made up his mind on whether or not to go forward with it.

In solidarity,

Charlie

--

Charles J. Parrish

President, AAUP-AFT, Local 6075, WSU Chapter

Vice President-at-Large, AFT Michigan

President, AAUP Michigan Conference

Member-at-Large, National Council, 

AAUP 5057 Woodward Avenue, Suite 3301

Detroit, MI 48202

313.577.1750