On Sept. 4, the University of Vermont United Academics (UA) announced that by mutual agreement of the university and the union, contract negotiations had reached impasse. United Academics cited the university’s failure to address several long-standing problems including stagnating faculty salaries and a lack of job security for many of its researchers. Faculty at UVM are among the lowest paid public university teachers in the country, while the university’s top administrators have continued to receive generous pay increases--salaries for the provost and dean have climbed between 40 percent and 65 percent in the past 10 years. During the same period, salaries for most UVM faculty members have risen only 15 percent to 17 percent.  In a 2001 study of 22 comparable state universities, UVM ranked next to last in faculty compensation.

United Academics voted to be represented by the AFT in April 2001 after faculty healthcare benefits were cut and a costly downsizing program moved 13 percent of the faculty into early retirement. UA represents roughly 600 full-time faculty at UVM and is negotiating to secure its first contract.

The union is seeking a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise each year for three years, plus increases for merit pay, market adjustments and promotion increases. UA says that university officials can well afford UA’s current salary proposal, which is about $3 million more than the administration’s current proposal.    

UA chief negotiator and education professor David Shiman says, "For 10 years, officials have been promising to do something about compensation. At the bargaining table, they have the opportunity to do so, but they have yet to take this opportunity."

Salaries are not the only issue in the stalled negotiations. The status of the nontenure-track (NTT) faculty is a critical concern. "The university is trying to split us up along tenure-track and nontenure track lines to weaken our collective strength, but we want dignity, justice and respect for all faculty," explains Linda Backus, acting president of United Academics. Thirty-seven percent of full-time faculty in the UA bargaining unit are NTT--more than double the national average of 15 percent. Eighty-six percent of NTT faculty work as "temporary" employees without multiyear contracts even though their average term of service is 10 years. 

UA’s statement on nontenure-track faculty affirms that "treating faculty as a low-cost labor pool for filling classrooms and research contracts ... undermines the quality of the institution, hinders program planning, and denies faculty the job security, professional support and intellectual freedom they need to continue providing quality teaching and top-notch scholarship."

The two sides have met 33 times for 200 hours over the past 10 months. The union and the university agreed to declare an impasse when it became clear they were not making progress. The two sides agreed to seek the help of an outside mediator.  If the parties fail to reach an agreement under a mediator, a fact-finding panel would step in and recommend contract terms.  If those efforts fail, the Vermont Labor Relations Board could impose a contract agreement.

Backus notes that by going to impasse, faculty now have the opportunity to make their concerns public. "Faculty, students and community members all have a stake in urging UVM to reconsider its spending priorities and start investing in those who work with students and with the community."  

For more information and updates, visit the United Academics Web site.  [Bette Ann Hubbard]

[September 25, 2002]