Full- and part-time faculty at Central Washington University have formally voted for representation by the NEA and AFT, becoming the state's first faculty union at a public four-year college or university under a new collective bargaining law passed in 2002.

"It marks a new era," said Susan Donohoe, president of United Faculty of Central, a dual affiliate of AFT and NEA. "We're very proud that we took this step so we can now work with the administration to help improve our wages and working conditions."

The union won 63 percent of the vote in the mail-in balloting, conducted June 2-23. The United Faculty of Central, which will represent 563 faculty members, librarians and coaches, has existed since 1997, but the university refused to recognize it until this election. Under a law signed in 2002 by Washington Gov. Gary Locke, four-year higher education institutions are required to recognize the union if a majority of the faculty vote for union representation.

Since the law's enactment, AFT Washington and the Washington Education Association, with support from both AFT and NEA, have undertaken a joint campaign to organize nearly 8,000 full- and part-time faculty at six of the state's public four-year and research institutions affected by the new law.

"It's been a long time coming, and the supporters of the union have been working for years to meet this goal," notes Sandra Schroeder, president of AFT Washington.

In addition to Central and Eastern, the remaining four-year schools targeted for the joint NEA/AFT organizing campaign are the University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington University and Evergreen State College in Olympia.

July 2004