Nov 2020 Newsbriefs: Bargaining Update #1

 

Feb 2020 Newsbriefs: WSU Lecturers

Dec 2018 Newsbriefs: The Lame Duck

Save the Date: Economic Justice Town Hall

• Save the Date: Economic Justice Town Hall
• Wednesday, January 31
• 11:30am - 1:30pm, 
• Hillberry D, Student Center

The fall issue of AAUP-AFT Newsbriefs highlights not only the increases in administrator’s salaries but the growing number of administrative positions in recent years. Although many of us are not surprised, given the impact the salary increases have had both on our departments and ourselves, we have not had the opportunity to clearly define the full implications across the University.

Given this, AAUP-AFT is hosting a Town Hall where faculty, staff, and students can come together to share our stories, to better understand the meaning of the administrators’ rise in salaries, the impact it has had on all of us, and the next steps to address these consequences.

You should have received this in campus mail or you can download the fall issue here:

Election 2016 Newsbrief

This Newsbrief is a quick guide to labor endorsed candidates for office. Look for a hard copy to come to your office this week, contact office@aaupaft.org if your area does not have a Council Representative to help people get this.

AAUP-AFT Local 6075 Newsbriefs elections 2016

Contact mdilley@aaupaft.org for a PDF version emailed to you if needed before hard copy.

Find more endorsed candidates at AFTMichigan.org and a non-partisian guide at League of Women Voters.  The Detroit School Board election has 63 people running, check out this breakdown.

2016 WSU Administrator Salaries

WSU Administrator Salaries 2016 in the AAUP-AFT Newsbriefs Winter 2016 Vol 15 No 1 edition.

Report calls for tighter rein on UW System faculty tenure

"The report, which critics called a thinly researched political attack, is timed to an upcoming regents vote March 10 on a new tenure policy. The policy is needed because existing tenure policy was shifted from state statute to the Board of Regents by the state Legislature...

The institute is a think tank financially supported by the conservative Bradley Foundation."

More via Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel and the Trouble With Tenure report.

AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress statement on Friedrichs

From: Howard Bunsis, AAUP-CBC <Communications@aaup.org>

Dear AAUP Member:

On Friday, the AAUP and other groups filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. This is an important case that could have far reaching consequences for AAUP members and for American workers more generally, and we want to make sure that our members are fully informed about it.

The case. This case started with a lawsuit funded by organizations seeking to weaken unions. It raises questions about whether and under what circumstances it is permissible for unions in the public sector to collect agency fees from nonmembers. Agency fees are collected by unions from members of the bargaining unit who choose not to become full members of the union, to defray the cost of representing them. Under current law, in some states, nonmembers can be charged a rate equivalent to full union dues unless they opt out. The Supreme Court will review two questions: (1) Whether agency fee arrangements should be invalidated in the public sector, and (2) whether it is permissible to require that public employees opt out from rather than opting in to paying the amount of full union dues. Given the questions before the Court there are several potential outcomes, ranging from an affirmation of the status quo to a complete prohibition on agency fees in the public sector.

Our position. The AAUP supports the right of unions to charge agency fees, also known as “fair share.” Even if bargaining unit members choose not to join as full members, they are represented by the union and benefit from the contract it negotiates. It is only fair for them to pay their fair share of the cost of negotiating that contract. In higher education, weakening or eliminating the right to collect these fees would undermine unions’ strength and our ability to protect academic freedom and shared governance and to fight for economic security.

What’s next? A date has not been set for the Court to hear arguments in Friedrichs, and we can’t say for sure when the court will make its decision, but one thing is clear: we can and must act now. We are only as strong as our members, and the best defense against an unfavorable outcome is a union with strong membership.  Building our membership sends a signal to our campus administrations that we are ready to fight for our unions, for collective bargaining, and for higher education. AAUP chapters across the country have already begun organizing and building membership. We’re doing what our union members always done: asking our colleagues to take a stand, and join the AAUP. 

If your chapter would like assistance with your organizing efforts, please contact Jamie Owen Daniel, director of organizing, at jdaniel@aaup.org.

See more information on the case.

In Solidarity,

Howard Bunsis, Chair
AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress

Rudy Fichtenbaum, President
AAUP

  

The AAUP-CBC supports unionization as the most effective means for academic employees to protect shared governance and academic freedom, to uphold professional standards and values, and to promote higher education as an investment in our common future. Visit the AAUP-CBC website andFacebook. Follow us on Twitter.

2015 February Newsbriefs

The February 2015 edition of the Newsbriefs "The Resources We Devote to Administration" was posted on the web site under "Stay Informed/Newsletters" and "Stay Informed/Salary Reports"

Quick link: http://aaupaft.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2015-newsbriefs-feb.pdf