UVM faculty get first contract

When faculty at the University of Vermont (UVM) voted for collective bargaining in spring 2000, they did so because they wanted a consistent voice in academic decision-making, and salaries that would let the institution recruit and retain faculty in a competitive environment.

Two years later, the United Academics of UVM/AFT/AAUP have brought home a first contract that provides that kind of clout--and then some. One of its outstanding features is the progress it makes in providing security and raises for nontenure-track faculty, who account for 38 percent of the 630-person bargaining unit.

Thirteen months in the making, the three-year agreement provides for across-the-board raises of 16 percent, plus market adjustments and promotion increments. It also establishes minimum salaries on a par with comparable institutions. The benefits enjoyed by faculty and staff before the negotiations remain unchanged, but in the year ahead, a university-wide benefits committee will explore expanding those.

The contract covers 390 tenured and tenure-track faculty and 240 nontenure-track faculty including librarians, research faculty, clinical faculty, extension faculty and lecturers.

For the nontenure-track faculty, the contract makes significant breakthroughs. For example, all faculty on one-year appointments are now eligible for contracts that increase in length as their length of service increases. They are also eligible to take sabbaticals.

The contract creates a new rank of senior lecturer. After six years of service, lecturers can apply for the new rank, which comes with a $3,000 raise and an assumption of continued service.

"Lecturers have been on perpetual one-year contracts," says economics instructor Dawn Saunders, a member of the negotiating team. "Each year they have received a letter stating 'you have no expectation of renewal in the next year.' It was demeaning."

The contract runs from July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2005. Because only 12 percent of the university's operating budget comes from the state, and because Vermont has not been as hard hit by deficits as many other states, the union does not foresee any problems getting the contract funded. "We did a lot of research into the university's financing. We knew they had the money; it was just a matter of how they prioritized spending it," says Saunders.

Higher ed leaders plan long-term strategies

The AFT's higher education leaders kicked off the new year by beginning an extended strategic planning process to help determine long-term priorities. Before holding its regularly scheduled program and policy council (PPC) meeting this January, the 22 local presidents took a day and a half to scan the big higher ed picture and decide where and how unions can act to best further the interests of members and the communities we serve.

The leaders came to the meeting having reviewed a large packet of research and analysis of trends in higher education. In small groups, they explored such topics as state funding, demographics, technology, changes in personnel structure, teaching and learning, organizing and collective bargaining. Then, they began a process to establish priorities and set realistic goals for action. The five broad priorities they identified were:

• strengthening the AFT's influence by organizing;
• securing better long-term support for higher education;
• supporting an all-inclusive vision of the academic labor work force;
• strengthening tools and data to help locals be effective; and
• improving campus working and learning conditions.

The process will continue over the next six months at least, with a draft of tentative goals being the product of this first strategic planning session. The draft will be circulated to higher education locals and state federations, discussed at the higher education issues conference in Atlanta in April (see announcement on page 3), and refined for further discussion with the AFT executive council in the fall.

The PPC held its formal meeting Jan. 18-19 and focused on more immediate concerns, such as federal legislation, communicating with members via the AFT Web site and new publications, and organizing. As education interests in Washington, D.C., focus on some of the policy aspects of reauthorizing the Higher Education Act this year and next, issues like accountability, distance education, student-aid policy, and recruiting and training teachers are always on the radar screen. The PPC also discussed pressing challenges, such as the shifting ground of negotiating and protecting healthcare benefits, and fighting for funding when state economies are faltering.

The next meeting will be held in late May.

Porter scholarships available

Applications are being accepted for the AFT's Robert G. Porter Scholars Program. The program offers four $8,000 scholarships for high school seniors graduating in 2003 whose parents are AFT members and who intend to pursue a career in labor, education, healthcare or government.

Also offered are 20 one-time grants of $l,000 for AFT members to pursue further study.

The Porter Scholars Program was established through a resolution passed by the AFT executive council in 1992 to honor the late Robert G. Porter, who served as AFT secretary-treasurer from 1963 through 1991. There could be no finer way "to recognize the contributions and memory of Robert G. Porter, in perpetuity," than to foster the education of AFT members and their families, reasoned the resolution's drafters.

A mix of national AFT contributions and voluntary contributions from AFT affiliates, members and friends makes the scholars program possible.

Download the application from the AFT Web site or e-mail to porterscholars@aft.org.

Members who do not have access to the Internet should send a postcard or letter (no phone calls, please) to the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001.

Applications must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2003, to be considered.

Applications sought for 2003 Saturn Awards

The AFT-Saturn /UAW Partnership Award, which honors joint labor-management partnerships that focus on quality, is looking for exemplary models of union-management collaboration that demonstrate trust, teamwork, shared decision-making, training, accountability, a focus on quality, and the ability to survive conflict and change.

"When labor and management work cooperatively, it's like a well-oiled machine," says AFT president Sandra Feldman. "Together they can reach their common goals most effectively, whether it's advocating first-rate education, healthcare or public service."

The 2002 AFT-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award recipients included the New Haven Federation of Teachers and New Haven Board of Education in New Haven, Conn., which collaborated on a professional development and mentoring program that helps new elementary school teachers with teaching technique and classroom management.

Locals in all AFT divisions that have worked with their management partners to create or implement programs to provide quality education, safe healthcare or effective public service are encouraged to apply for a partnership award.

The 2003 award will be presented this summer to as many as six local unions and their management partners. Winners will receive a free trip to Spring Hill, Tenn., in November 2003 to visit the Saturn plant. Application deadline is April 1. To learn more, visit www.saturnuaw.com.