Bargaining Update for Friday, August 14
Note: below is a bargaining update sent via email on Friday. It appears not to have reached some (most?) of you. We're looking into what the problem might be.
Contract Extension in Question
On Tuesday, August 11, during a subcommittee meeting between members of the union and university bargaining teams, AAUP learned that the PSU administration, under direction from the Oregon University System (OUS), is prepared to let the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expire at the end of this month (August 31). The CBA contains clauses important for the settlement of grievances, the collection of Fair Share dues, and other labor-management relations.
During bargaining for the 2007-2009 contract, when raises were in order for the PSU-AAUP bargaining unit members, the administration engaged in an unprecedented 16 months of negotiations and extended the contract for 11 months beyond its original expiration. Now, in a time when freezes and cuts are likely, the PSU Administration is poised to break with tradition, letting the contract lapse despite the fact that negotiations have been progressing cordially and productively on all open articles.
Your bargaining team has from the start of negotiations clearly and consistently informed the Administration of our willingness to work with the administration during this time of financial crisis to speedily craft an agreement that enables the campus to meet its financial constraints while distributing any necessary cuts in an equitable manner. The Administration’s unwarranted move to let the contract expire displays a lack of trust completely inconsistent with the current tone of negotiations and suggests that the PSU Administration has little control of what happens at its negotiating table.
The bargaining team will work to make sure that OUS does not rush the bargaining process and trample campus autonomy with an inappropriate one-size-fits-all attempt to impose cuts that are out of proportion with those being taken by other state workers. Because at least three other OUS contracts are on extensions right now, we would see the failure to extend the PSU CBA as targeted ill will.
Below is an update about recent progress at the bargaining table and in the joint AAUP-Administration subcommittee on salary issues.
Current Bargaining
Since our last update, we have learned some important information that has allowed AAUP and the university to begin negotiating in earnest over salaries. We now know that the legislature cut funds to PSU in the amount of $21 million. This is less than earlier worst-case scenarios, but still a large amount. According to PSU's revised budget, the administration still wants to trim $3.9 million in payroll (to all personnel), unchanged from earlier figures. We are also watching other state unions to see what kind of deals they are negotiating.
With these numbers, our bargaining team has been meeting both within formal sessions and in subcommittee with members of the administration.
Salary Concessions
The administration has been consistent in asking for salary concessions, though they have not forwarded any proposals. This is a difficult situation. On the one hand, administrators are already taking cuts in their own salary, and other state unions have agreed to furloughs. As members of the university community, we want to be supportive of the mission. On the other hand, the administration has received greater salary increases in recent years and will feel one-time cuts less. In contrast, bargaining unit members’ salaries remain far below those of our comparators. The bargaining team is committed to crafting a salary agreement that does not disproportionately disadvantage our constituency. The targeted method from both sides is in FTE reduction rather than salary cuts or furloughs.
Balancing Risk
The Administration has made clear their concerned about two uncertainties in the coming year: how long the economic crisis will last and whether a ballot measure will succeed in repealing $733 million of tax increases. The question is, who takes on this risk and who will enjoy the benefit if adopted worst-case scenarios do not come to pass? Unfortunately, it seems that the university wants the union to take on all the risk while sharing none of the rewards if things don't get as bad as they predict. Two things concern us:
Administrations' Own Cuts
In the coming year, upper administrators (deans and above) will take an FTE reduction of 4.6%. This will not affect PEBB enrollment, but will affect retirement (because effective base pay is reduced). In exchange, however, participating workers will receive one "president's leave day" each month. These are effectively vacation/sick days, though they have no real value--they can't be cashed out. However, unused vacation days can be banked while Administrators take these leave days. All of these new leave days would need to be used up by June 30, 2010. This deal has not been extended in bargaining to our membership, and mechanically, it's not necessarily a good fit. But the bargaining team will bear this arrangement in mind as we seek an arrangement for our unit members.
SEIU Deal
In late July, SEIU-DAS (the state component of SEIU, not the OUS component,) reached a deal with the State of Oregon--important because they provide a template for all other negotiations in the state, including ours. Here are the highlights (full details can be found here).
Keep informed
To stay informed and share your view, visit the PSU-AAUP Labor Blog. We will keep it updated as bargaining continues.
In solidarity,
PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team
Contract Extension in Question
On Tuesday, August 11, during a subcommittee meeting between members of the union and university bargaining teams, AAUP learned that the PSU administration, under direction from the Oregon University System (OUS), is prepared to let the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expire at the end of this month (August 31). The CBA contains clauses important for the settlement of grievances, the collection of Fair Share dues, and other labor-management relations.
During bargaining for the 2007-2009 contract, when raises were in order for the PSU-AAUP bargaining unit members, the administration engaged in an unprecedented 16 months of negotiations and extended the contract for 11 months beyond its original expiration. Now, in a time when freezes and cuts are likely, the PSU Administration is poised to break with tradition, letting the contract lapse despite the fact that negotiations have been progressing cordially and productively on all open articles.
Your bargaining team has from the start of negotiations clearly and consistently informed the Administration of our willingness to work with the administration during this time of financial crisis to speedily craft an agreement that enables the campus to meet its financial constraints while distributing any necessary cuts in an equitable manner. The Administration’s unwarranted move to let the contract expire displays a lack of trust completely inconsistent with the current tone of negotiations and suggests that the PSU Administration has little control of what happens at its negotiating table.
The bargaining team will work to make sure that OUS does not rush the bargaining process and trample campus autonomy with an inappropriate one-size-fits-all attempt to impose cuts that are out of proportion with those being taken by other state workers. Because at least three other OUS contracts are on extensions right now, we would see the failure to extend the PSU CBA as targeted ill will.
Below is an update about recent progress at the bargaining table and in the joint AAUP-Administration subcommittee on salary issues.
Current Bargaining
Since our last update, we have learned some important information that has allowed AAUP and the university to begin negotiating in earnest over salaries. We now know that the legislature cut funds to PSU in the amount of $21 million. This is less than earlier worst-case scenarios, but still a large amount. According to PSU's revised budget, the administration still wants to trim $3.9 million in payroll (to all personnel), unchanged from earlier figures. We are also watching other state unions to see what kind of deals they are negotiating.
With these numbers, our bargaining team has been meeting both within formal sessions and in subcommittee with members of the administration.
Salary Concessions
The administration has been consistent in asking for salary concessions, though they have not forwarded any proposals. This is a difficult situation. On the one hand, administrators are already taking cuts in their own salary, and other state unions have agreed to furloughs. As members of the university community, we want to be supportive of the mission. On the other hand, the administration has received greater salary increases in recent years and will feel one-time cuts less. In contrast, bargaining unit members’ salaries remain far below those of our comparators. The bargaining team is committed to crafting a salary agreement that does not disproportionately disadvantage our constituency. The targeted method from both sides is in FTE reduction rather than salary cuts or furloughs.
Balancing Risk
The Administration has made clear their concerned about two uncertainties in the coming year: how long the economic crisis will last and whether a ballot measure will succeed in repealing $733 million of tax increases. The question is, who takes on this risk and who will enjoy the benefit if adopted worst-case scenarios do not come to pass? Unfortunately, it seems that the university wants the union to take on all the risk while sharing none of the rewards if things don't get as bad as they predict. Two things concern us:
- The deficit for the budget is projected to be $21 million, but PSU has written in an additional $4.1 million to cover possible shortfalls related to the economy and ballot measures. In effect, PSU is asking us to take salary cuts so that they can build reserves in case of emergency.
- PSU has not included increased enrollment in their budget, though they know there will certainly be more students.
Administrations' Own Cuts
In the coming year, upper administrators (deans and above) will take an FTE reduction of 4.6%. This will not affect PEBB enrollment, but will affect retirement (because effective base pay is reduced). In exchange, however, participating workers will receive one "president's leave day" each month. These are effectively vacation/sick days, though they have no real value--they can't be cashed out. However, unused vacation days can be banked while Administrators take these leave days. All of these new leave days would need to be used up by June 30, 2010. This deal has not been extended in bargaining to our membership, and mechanically, it's not necessarily a good fit. But the bargaining team will bear this arrangement in mind as we seek an arrangement for our unit members.
SEIU Deal
In late July, SEIU-DAS (the state component of SEIU, not the OUS component,) reached a deal with the State of Oregon--important because they provide a template for all other negotiations in the state, including ours. Here are the highlights (full details can be found here).
- Protected fully paid family medical coverage. The State will pay for premium cost increases of up to 5% in each year. Increases between 5% and 10% will be paid partly by the State and partly from PEBB reserve funds.
- There will be a one-year step freeze from 9/1/09 through 8/31/10. Employees who receive a step in July or August 2009 will have that step "rolled back" on 9/1/09 and then restored on 9/1/10.
- SEIU-DAS protected the new 10th step. This means that all bargaining unit members will get one step increase (raise) at some point during the life of the contract.
- There will be no cost of living adjustments during the contract.
- SEIU-DAS will take 10, 12, or 14 furlough days over the next two years--much less than the 24 days the State had proposed, and less than employees of many other states have taken. Higher-paid workers are expected to take more days off. Furlough days will be pro-rated for part-time and seasonal employees and will count as time worked for accruals and insurance.
Keep informed
To stay informed and share your view, visit the PSU-AAUP Labor Blog. We will keep it updated as bargaining continues.
In solidarity,
PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team
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