Salary Restoration Ratified: Snap back!

Bargaining Update

As negotiated in the recent salary reopener, PSU-AAUP bargaining unit members' salaries have been restored to their 9/09 levels as of April 1st 2010.

The Payroll team in Human Resources has worked hard this past month to implement this restoration. Please check your April pay stubs for further information.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your pay for this month, please contact Human Resources and the Payroll team at 5-4926 and your call will be routed to the correct team member.

For a copy of the final agreement, please click the following button:

Tentative Agreement Reached: Snap back!

Bargaining Update

The PSU-AAUP collective bargaining team met on 4/5 and 4/9 with the administration to finalize details regarding the salary reopener. We are pleased to announce that we signed an agreement on the afternoon of Friday, April 9th. If ratified by the bargaining unit, this agreement will replace Letter of Agreement #4 in the 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Details of the reopener agreement

1. Salaries are restored to their September 2009 levels as of April 1st 2010. This means that you will see an increase in your pay check on April 30th.

2. The University has agreed to allocate $1 million over the rest of the biennium to the following venues:
- $400,000 one time support to the library
- $200,000 toward computing (computers and software)
- $200,000 toward faculty travel
- $200,000 toward professional development

These funds will be allocated to build capacity on campus, with the understanding that they will improve bargaining unit members' working conditions and the welfare of the university.

Questions that you might raise

A) There's money on the table. Why did the bargaining team settle for snap-back and $1 million rather than repayment of the salary cuts plus a targeted market increment or years in rank formula?

The answer to this question has less to do with our own administration than with the OUS Chancellor's Office and members of the Oregon State Legislature. Individuals on these fronts did not want PSU to make any change to faculty salaries. The bargaining team was told that President Wiewel faced stiff resistance in offering us snap-back. At issue is the political fallout if our bargaining unit members were perceived to receive a raise when the rest of the state workers have taken ongoing cuts and so many Oregonians are out of work.

There are a lot of ways we could counter the Chancellor’s and Legislature’s argument. The bargaining team raised each of those counter-arguments forcefully and eloquently: PSU as an institution has suffered perpetual underfunding; our salaries are well behind national average; making us 'whole' is not the same as giving us a 'raise'; the recession is a boom time for Higher Ed; we are teaching record numbers of students and have received additional tuition from these enrollments; and the tuition revenue is generated by faculty who are working extra hard to service all the students. The Administration recognizes and often actually agrees with these points. They claim that they are, however, limited in what they can offer us at the table.

It seemed to the bargaining team that we would lose April snap-back money and not gain much else if we mobilized unit members to try to get a better deal. Member activism to create a buzz on campus would probably have been double-edged, with potential to give us a lot of negative press in this economic climate.

b) How will the $1 million be spent and in specific how will we be sure that it benefits all of our unit members, particularly Academic Professionals?

This is an excellent question. The Tentative Agreement is extremely short on specifics about implementation, and the Administration was unwilling to put any details into writing. The bargaining team got verbal assurance that we (myself, the CB team, PSU-AAUP) will be involved in the allocation of that money. We made the point in Friday's meeting that we need to make sure that all of our members have equal access to those funds. The point was recognized and acknowledged. I will personally do my best to make sure that we craft the best possible distribution of this money.

The Administration is unwilling to make this money look like 'perks' or 'slush funds' for faculty, so a per-individual payment is not likely. We can, however, work to make the requirements of whatever system we set up minimal and transparent, and make the disbursements efficient and speedy.

Obviously, many details remain to be worked out. I'll look forward to your suggestions and support as we move through the process of clarifying the disbursement details.

c) What about student-fee funded and grant-funded salaries?

People whose positions are student-fee funded and grant-funded will have their salaries snap back as of April 1st. In some cases, funds were reallocated from salaries to other areas when we took our pay cuts in November. The Administration has agreed to work with departments and units to handle snap back in such cases gracefully.

Ratification

The PSU-AAUP Executive council has approved this Tentative Agreement and presents it to the membership for ratification. You will receive notification soon from PSU-AAUP regarding an online voting procedure.

The collective bargaining team has worked long and hard in an adverse economic climate to reach this agreement with the administration. We hope that you will support and ratify what we have negotiated.

Questions, comments, concerns?

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me at (gamburdm@pdx.edu).

In solidarity,
Michele Gamburd

We Ratified!

Balloting closed on Monday at 5:00 PM for the PSU-AAUP contract ratification vote. Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting the September 12th tentative agreement reached between PSU-AAUP and the PSU administration.

A total of 416 ballots were cast (406 online and 10 in paper form). A record 64.5% of eligible voters weighed in on this issue, with 90.38% (376) voting ‘yes’ and 9.62% (40) voting ‘no.’

The collective bargaining team thanks all of the members for their support.

Many thanks to the members of the Collective Bargaining Team

The bargaining team has been negotiating since April to reach this settlement with the University. A hearty round of thanks to the members of the PSU-AAUP team: Jeff Alworth, David Hansen, Bob Liebman, Ron Narode, Andrea Ogston, and Chief Negotiator Michele Gamburd. Thanks also to PSU-AAUP Executive Director Phil Lesch and President Jonathan Uto for their unflagging support and sterling advice.

Congratulations are also due to the University team, headed by Chief Negotiator Carol Mack, Vice Provost for Academic Administration and Planning. Despite the difficult tasks that faced the bargaining teams this year, negotiations proceeded cordially, swiftly, and productively.

What happens next?

The 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement goes into effect immediately, including the new language negotiated regarding working conditions, intellectual property rights, fixed term faculty, and the resolution of disputes. Salary reductions will begin on November 1st. Representatives from Human Resources and PSU-AAUP will be happy to answer any questions that you may have upon receiving your November pay stub.

Possible salary reopener

The CBA contains in Letter of Agreement #4 the possibility to reopen discussions on salary in March 2010 if financial circumstances have changed significantly. Your bargaining team will continue to monitor budget information from the State of Oregon, the Oregon University System, and PSU. If the economy improves, and if state ballot measures to rescind the tax increases do not pass in January, and if enrollment growth continues strongly on campus, there may be enough money in the PSU budget to restore some or all of the salary cuts.

Ongoing PSU-AAUP initiatives

Your bargaining team has three priorities for the next six months. First, we will do what we can to make our voice heard throughout the state in opposition to the ballot measures to rescind the tax increases. Second, we will support the PSU administration in its efforts to lobby OUS for an equitable distribution of state funding. Third, we will work to make sure that the PSU administration makes the restoration of faculty salaries a top financial priority. Members are cordially invited to join us in these efforts!

In solidarity,
Michele Gamburd
gamburdm@pdx.edu
For the PSU-AAUP bargaining team

Agreement Reached!

Your collective bargaining team met with the administration at 2:00 PM on Friday the 9th of September. In a marathon 16-hour negotiating session, PSU-AAUP and the PSU Administration reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) on the 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. We signed the paperwork at 4:30 AM on Saturday, 12 September.

Reflecting the country’s unusual economic circumstances, this agreement comes much earlier in the year than it has in the past. If we had not settled when we did, the administration seemed fully prepared to let the 2007-2009 CBA expire, declare impasse, and move as quickly as possible to impose cuts up to the 4.6% level. We made a number of gains through the package proposal phase of bargaining, and we felt that we had much to lose by delaying.

Thanks to the Collective Bargaining team

Many thanks to Jeff Alworth, David Hansen, Bob Liebman, Ron Narode, and Andrea Ogston (the members of the collective bargaining team) and to Phil Lesch for their hard work and commitment over the past 6 months as we met in caucus and with the administration to reach this agreement. The months of August and September have been especially busy and intense.

Highlights of the tentative agreement

Article 30: Salary & Retirement/Letter of Agreement on Salary Reductions for
Academic Years 2009-2011

PSU faces financial difficulties in conjunction with the national and state economic crises. The university will take a 13% cut in state appropriations, representing a $20 million reduction. In the event of passage of ballot measures to rescind tax increases, further budget reductions are estimated at $2.1 million. PSU is retaining an emergency fund to cover this contingency. In addition, the Oregon University System has required PSU to set aside $ 2 million in reserves in the face of reduced Federal funding when the economic stimulus package ends. In response to these extraordinary circumstances, PSU-AAUP has agreed to accept salary reductions for our bargaining unit. These reductions will be applied equally across the employees work year and represent a number of mandatory unpaid days off, or leave days, as discussed below.

Snap-back: The text of the salary article remains unchanged from that in the 2007-2009 CBA. The language about salary cuts is contained in a Letter of Agreement that expires at the end of the 2009-2011 CBA. Salary levels in the 2007-2009 CBA will form the basis of bargaining for the 2011-2013 CBA.

No retroactive cuts: Salary cuts will begin on November 1, 2009 and will NOT be imposed retroactively.

Leave days: Number of leave days is rounded up to the next whole number. The first five leave days received in exchange for salary reductions will be used to cover University Closure periods. (People receiving less than 5 leave days will NOT need to use vacation days to cover the closure.) Remaining leave days may be scheduled and coordinated at the unit level, but must not disrupt class schedules.

Proration: Cuts and leave days will be prorated according to FTE.

Special conditions apply to sabbatical leaves and members with visa status considerations.

Salary reopener: By March 31, 2010, if either PSU-AAUP or the University feels that the University’s financial circumstances have changed significantly, then the Salary reduction LOA can be re-negotiated. Otherwise the LOA provisions will continue through the 2010-2011 academic year.

University salary savings: For the 2009-2010 year, cuts from our unit amount to $1.6 million in savings for the university. The aggregate cut for the 2009-2010 year is 2% due to the delay in implementation; a full year of implementation would have provided $2 million, or a 2.6% cut.

Individual salary cuts will be graduated according to the tables below.

For 12-month employees at 1.0 FTE (assuming a full year of implementation):

Annual Pay @ 1.0 FTE	Minimum Number of Leave Days	% Impact on Salary
<$30,000	3 days per fiscal year	1.15%
≥$30,000 and <$50,000	4.2 days per fiscal year	1.62%
≥$50,000 and <$70,000	5.4 days per fiscal year	2.08%
≥$70,000 and <$90,000	6.6 days per fiscal year	2.54%
≥$90,000 and <$110,000	7.8 days per fiscal year	3.00%
≥$110,000 and <$130,000	9 days per fiscal year	3.46%
≥$130,000 and <$150,000	10.2 days per fiscal year	3.92%
≥$150,000	11.4 days per fiscal year	4.38%

For 9-month employees at 1.0 FTE (assuming a full year of implementation):

Annual Pay @ 1.0 FTE	Minimum Number of Leave Days	% Impact on Salary
<$24,590	2.19 days per fiscal year	1.15%
≥$24,590 and <$40,984	3.07 days per fiscal year	1.62%
≥$40,984 and <$57,377	3.95 days per fiscal year	2.08%
≥$57,377 and <$73,770	4.82 days per fiscal year	2.54%
≥$73,770 and <$90,164	5.70 days per fiscal year	3.00%
≥$90,164 and <$106,557	6.58 days per fiscal year	3.46%
≥$106,557 and <$122,951	7.45 days per fiscal year	3.92%
≥$122,951	8.33 days per fiscal year	4.38%

Article 11: Release Time

PSU agreed to fund three additional course releases each academic year. This doubles the university-paid release time available to the union. With this time, we are better able to recruit people for important jobs, including doing financial research for the salary reopener.

Article 14: Promotion and Tenure

The article was revised to include reference to a document on the promotion of research faculty recently passed by the Faculty Senate.

Article 17: Academic Professional Faculty

This article was revised to incorporate text about flexible work schedules and the application of wage and hour law that was included in Letter of Agreement #2 in the previous contract.

Article 18: Fixed-Term Instructional and Research Faculty

- The entire article was rewritten for clarity. Many thanks to the Fixed-Term Faculty Task Force for their efforts on this front!

- Grant-funded research faculty members may receive contracts that run the length of the grant (up to 3 years), as allowable by OARs and OUS policy, with presidential approval.

- The university agrees to place a minimum of 45% of fixed-term faculty with seniority on multi-year contracts. (The percentage was 30% in the prior CBA.)

Article 20: Intellectual Property/Distance Education

Revisions to this article clarify ownership of intellectual property in our academic context. In particular, the article clarifies that governance and ownership of intellectual property rights and responsibilities do not change as a result of the medium of delivery or storage (e.g., on-line, electronic media). Many thanks to the Intellectual Property Task Force for their efforts on this front!

Article 24: Working Conditions

The revised article includes reference to PSU’s Professional Standards of Conduct policy.

Article 28: Resolution of Disputes

New language addresses the university’s obligations under ‘resort to other procedures’ conditions, and discusses the authority of the arbitrator in nondiscrimination cases.

Article 31: Insurance

We retain our fully paid health insurance through PEBB for another two years. PSU will pay for premium increases of up to 5% in plan years 2010 and 2011. If rate increases exceed 5%, we will petition PEBB to use reserve funds to cover the difference. Bargaining unit members will not be asked to cover increases in insurance costs.

Letter of Agreement: Workload Task Force

The Workload Task Force will continue. Participants will discuss matters concerning workload and with move these discussions forward into appropriate campus venues, including faculty senate and CAE. If you are interested in joining this task force, please contact Michele Gamburd.

Ratification

No member of the bargaining team found this negotiating cycle pleasant, and no member is pleased to present a TA with salary reductions. This was a very difficult environment in which to bargain; the financial challenges facing PSU and the Oregon University System are real. In the end the bargaining team believes they negotiated the best agreement possible. All are proud that the rates of reduction we negotiated for PSU-AAUP bargaining unit members are lower than those accepted by Oregon state and municipal workers, are lower than the cuts imposed at other OUS campuses to date, and are lower than the 4.6% that administrators have had to endure.

The collective bargaining team recommends that the Tentative Agreement be ratified.

Everyone who is a union member as of September 21, 2009 will be eligible to vote on the ratification of the contract.

Fair share fee payers are not eligible to vote.

We will be using the Helios Online Voting System for the ratification vote. Members will receive an email message with a link to the election site by Monday September 28, 2009. If you do not receive an email with the link, please let Phil know at phil@psuaaup.net. Voting will close one week later, at the end of the day on Monday, 5 October.

The full text of the Tentative Agreement is available online at http://www.psuaaup.net/2009%2009Sep12%20PSU-AAUP%20and%20PSU%20TA.pdf. We encourage members to evaluate the TA before the vote opens, and to vote early.

Bargaining update meeting

PSU-AAUP will hold a bargaining update meeting on Tuesday, 22 September from 1-3, location TBA. (Note: Our meeting is immediately before Convocation.) Snacks will be served, and the bargaining team will be present to let you know more about the tentative agreement and answer questions. Please also feel free to contact me at gamburdm@pdx.edu for further details.

In solidarity,

Michele Gamburd, VP Collective Bargaining
For the PSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Team

Bargaining update, 31 August 2009: An eventful session

Bargaining has reached a critical stage. As you will read below:

At the table on 28 August, PSU-AAUP and the University exchanged proposals on salary and a number of other issues, the details of which follow below.
The University is anxious to proceed quickly with salary cuts. The tone at the table reflects their urgency in this matter, and we will have only a short period of time within which to wrap up negotiations.
It is clear that OUS wishes to use the current economic situation as an opportunity to eviscerate key elements in the CBA.
Read on to learn how you can participate in mobilizing against disproportionate and unequal salary cuts!

PSU within the Oregon University System

In contrast to the situation at UO and OSU, where we hear that faculty face few if any cuts, PSU employees are being asked to take pay reductions that greatly exceed those experienced by other state workers in Oregon.
Inequity in salary cuts suggests that OUS is yet again trying to force PSU to subsidize other OUS institutions. Your bargaining team is fighting to limit unnecessary cuts to your wages.
The bargaining team also suspects that OUS is shielding UO and OSU instructional faculty from cuts in an attempt to discourage unionizing drives on those campuses, while simultaneously trying to weaken bargaining units at other OUS institutions (including our own).

Key issues at the bargaining table

PSU-AAUP has consistently made clear to the University that we are willing to work quickly to help the administration face the current budgetary crisis. The University has in turn been relatively open with the bargaining team's salary subcommittee regarding university finances. Discussions have revealed the following key points:

The University's salary model is conservative. It includes a large reserve for possible future budget cuts and other unanticipated shortfalls. In addition, it models enrollment growth at 0%, even though the forecast calls for 3.3% growth. (1% enrollment growth is roughly equivalent to $1 million in tuition revenue.)
The University's chosen strategy is to build reserves from salary savings. The administration suggests that should these reserves not be needed, they will be spent according to the priorities of the President and the Provost. (Note that restoration of faculty salaries is not at the top of this list.) In addition, the administration has indicated that OUS can "sweep up" financial reserves held at member campuses. This means that reserves generated by salary savings might not even be spent on our campus.
PSU-AAUP's chosen strategy is to offer speedy and generous cuts up front, but in amounts that do not exceed PSU's current needs. We have made clear our willingness to discuss further cuts should they prove necessary. We are leery of accepting extra cuts on the unwritten promise of possible later restoration, particularly given PSU's disadvantageous position within OUS and the probability that PSU's disproportionate sacrifices will be used to support other institutions.

Our offer

In reply to a salary offer made by the University on 14 August 2009, your bargaining team proposed tiered one-time salary cuts for the 2009-2010 academic year. In our initial counter-proposal, we proposed cuts ranging from .77% - 1.35%, reflecting between 2 and 3.5 mandatory unpaid days off for 12-month employees (prorated for 9-month employees). Salary reductions would be deducted in equal amounts across the member's work year.
In their initial offer on 8-14, the administration had proposed to rewrite Article 30: Salary and Retirement with reduced minimum salaries for ranked instructional faculty and with reduced salary ranges for APs. PSU-AAUP counter-proposed that the text of Article 30 remain as in the 2007-2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement. We proposed that salary cuts and/or FTE reductions should be handled in a Letter of Agreement (LOA) that expires at the end of the academic year. This strategy would preserve the gains made in the past contract negotiations.
We further proposed that revenue increases from any enrollment growth over the first 1% or $1 million be used to offset cuts to faculty salaries.
In addition, we proposed that special conditions should govern certain categories of employees, for example people paid from grant money or student fees, people on sabbatical, people with visa-status issues, people near retirement, and people who would drop below .5 FTE should not be affected by cuts.
Finally, we proposed that the terms and conditions of the Letter of Agreement governing salary cuts be renegotiated in April 2010, with each side bringing 2 more articles to the table (a well-established bargaining strategy that facilitates settlement). To accommodate this extra service, we asked the University to fund buy-outs for PSU-AAUP members to take part in the bargaining re-opener.

University's counter-proposal

PSU received our proposal mid-morning and countered at 1:00 PM with a package offer. Their offer showed some movement on salary. In contrast to their prior proposal in which $6.1 million would be realized on salary savings across campus (from members in all three labor unions), the savings would be $5.2 million under this model. Note that this figure is still greater than the $3.9 million figure we have heard on campus during the past year. Note also that the University's model suggests that PSU-AAUP is in effect bargaining for all three campus unions (PSU-AAUP, AFT, and SEIU).
The University's proposed salary cuts range from 1.9% - 4.6%, reflecting between 5 and 12 mandatory unpaid days off per academic year for 12-month employees, prorated for 9-month employees. Under the University's proposal, cuts would continue for a second year, unless renegotiated. Under this proposal, such negotiations would discuss only salary, without opening other articles.
Despite voicing no arguments against placing language on salary cuts in a LOA, the University persists in making reductions in the text of Article 30 itself. This move erodes on a permanent basis the salary gains won in the last contract negotiations.
Also of concern are proposed changes to Article 11: Release Time. In the past the University has recognized that collective bargaining benefits both the administration and the union, and it has paid for half of the release time provided for the bargaining team. In this proposal, the University would no longer pay for any release time. This proposed change diverges radically from past practice and carries strong overtones of union-busting. The bargaining team believes that OUS is using the current economic situation as an opportunity to eviscerate the contract. Only our effective mobilization can counter their move.

What happens next?

It's time for a bit of political action! The members of the bargaining team need you to add your collective voice to ours.

August 31st marks the end-date of the 2007-2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which has been extended until 11 September 2009. It is entirely possible that the University will refuse to extend the contract beyond 9-11, forcing us to mediation, impasse, and the imposition of their final offer.
In the next month, we need to put pressure on the University to let them know that we refuse to let PSU subsidize budget shortfalls at other OUS institutions, and that we are unwilling to allow the University to accumulate large reserves from salary savings with no clear mechanism for restoration.
Faculty support for and participation in union activities will be key to our success!
Here's what you can do: Spend a couple of hours in the next month to write letters and emails to the PSU administration, members of the State Board of Higher Education, the Oregonian, Oregon State legislators, and key figures at the Chancellor's Office; volunteer to design and post posters; attend PSU-AAUP rallies; and urge fair-share dues payers and new faculty to sign up as AAUP members.
In addition, The OUS chapter of SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is being offered terms significantly worse than those that other state SEIU workers have accepted. For more details, see http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/18972979-41/story.csp. Support our local SEIU chapter members in their mobilization efforts! SEIU will hold a rally in the Park Blocks on Wednesday September 9th- please attend and show our solidarity!
Check the PSU-AAUP website at http://www.psuaaup.net or contact me (gamburdm@pdx.edu), Jeff Alworth (alworth@pdx.edu), Phil Lesch (phil@psuaaup.net), or Susan Harlan (harlans@pdx.edu) to find out how you can get involved.

Bargaining update meeting

A bargaining update meeting will be scheduled soon - time and date to be announced. Please attend and bring a colleague with you!

Keep posted
For updates on current labor-related events, check in at the Labor Blog http://www.psuaaup.net/blog/blog.htm.

In solidarity,
The PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team

August Bargaining Update: 08/16/09

A salary subcommittee of members of AAUP and PSU's bargaining teams met on Friday to discuss salary issues. Several key pieces of information emerged, and these are summarized below.

Contract Extension
In the previous salary subcommittee meeting, AAUP was alarmed to learn that, under pressure from OUS, PSU was considering letting our current contract expire on August 31. Fortunately, following discussion with President Wim Wievel and Carol Mack, PSU's lead negotiator, OUS has backed off this drastic threat. OUS acknowledged that every negotiating table is different and has agreed to allow PSU to extend our contract on a meeting-to-meeting basis after August 31 to facilitate bargaining.

PSU Salary Proposal
The administration also offered their first salary proposal, which finally gives us a starting point for concrete negotiations.

Although we welcome the progress, we find PSU's initial offer troubling.

The proposal is based upon a new model of cuts called the "Chancellor's model." PSU characterizes the numbers it contains as more realistic than the "Governor's model" -- which was presented to the university community at several public forums and which we have been working from since bargaining began back in April. The Chancellor's Model allows OUS to hold back $10 million per year of state funds in case further budget reductions (termed Phase 2 cuts) are needed in the future. 21% of such a system-wide cut would come from PSU. In a nutshell, the PSU salary proposal based on the Chancellor's Model does the following:

It increases the proposed PSU salary cuts from $3.9 million to $6.1 million. The bargaining team finds this backtracking dubious, given that the $3.9 figure has circulated on campus for a number of months now. Since its first appearance, enrollment forecasts have risen and economic conditions have improved, not worsened.
It fails to shelter lower-paid members from significant cuts; instead, PSU's offer requests 3.27% cuts from 12-month employees making less than 30K and 4.6% cuts from those making more than 49K
It specifies graduated "President's Leave Days" during non-teaching time and closure days (between Christmas and New Year)
It excludes any mechanism for a "snapback" or the restoration of salary cuts. Under this proposal, all cuts in salary would be permanent. Although the PSU-AAUP bargaining team recognizes the extent of the current financial challenges facing PSU, we do not see this crisis as reason to permanently undermine the hard-won salary gains achieved during the last round of negotiations.

The PSU-AAUP bargaining team has repeatedly pointed out that none of PSU's models has mentioned the possibility of enrollment growth, which could conceivably improve the university's financial situation. (For more information, see the current enrollment forecast at http://www.oirp.pdx.edu/enrollment/index.php.)

Next Steps
Your bargaining team will continue to press the Administration on these and other points surrounding salary, while continuing negotiations on other important issues.

The Administration's bargaining team clearly stated that this was an initial proposal and they fully expected to bargain on the percentages, the salary banding, and the president's days. We anticipate that bargaining will continue swiftly in a cordial manner.

The next full bargaining session will be held on August 28th, and we will communicate with you before then about how you can support the Collective Bargaining Team at this important meeting.

In solidarity,

The PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team

July Bargaining Update: 08/14/09

Contract Extension in Question
On Tuesday, 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
http://www.seiu503.org/state/institutions/oshlocal392/Central_Table_Update_7_27_09.aspx).

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. There will be no cost of living adjustments during the contract.

5. 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 at http://www.psuaaup.net/blog/blog.html. We will keep it updated as bargaining continues.

In solidarity,
PSU-AAUP Bargaining Team

June Bargaining Update: 07/08/09

At the negotiating table
The University and PSU-AAUP bargaining teams met three times at the negotiating table during June. Discussions have continued on a cordial and productive note. We reached agreement on revisions to Article 17: Academic Professional Faculty and Article 24: Working Conditions. These changes allowed us to ‘sunset’ Letter of Agreement #2: APs – Flexible Work Schedules, And Wage and Hour Law Education.

Proposals continue to cross the table regarding Article 18: Fixed Term Instructional and Research Faculty and Article 28: Resolution of Disputes.
Your bargaining team is also discussing issues related to workload and released time.

Over the summer
The bargaining team will continue negotiations over the summer, meeting once in July and once in August. In addition, a joint subcommittee composed of David Hansen, Bob Liebman, and Phil Lesch will meet with the University on Salary, Retirement, and Insurance on a more frequent basis to address new information as it is released. By the end of the summer, we should have a clearer picture of the budgetary situation.

Salary, Retirement, and Insurance
The Oregon economic forecast continues to predict lean times ahead for PSU. No salary proposals have yet crossed the table during bargaining, but given the legislature’s last-minute reduction of $11.5 million to the Higher Education budget, we anticipate the need for layoffs and salary reductions.

In negotiating budget reductions, the union’s first priority is to keep jobs on campus. Where cuts prove necessary, PSU-AAUP has proposed a Letter of Agreement with the university to set some parameters around the redistribution of workload that may result from layoffs within our bargaining unit. This LOA is still under discussion.

Key variables
Issues discussed at the bargaining table include how to nuance an agreement when a number of key variables will remain in flux after the expiration of the contract on August 31. These variables include questions about the level of funding for higher education from the federal and state governments during the upcoming biennium, PSU’s allocation from OUS, the OUS approval of tuition increases, and Fall Quarter enrollment figures.

Guiding principles
The bargaining team will work to craft an agreement that makes concessions where necessary, but also protects our bargaining unit members from unnecessary or disproportionate sacrifices. Our priorities when discussing reductions in faculty compensation include the following: tiered reductions that shelter lower-paid bargaining unit members and the modification of these graduated cuts to reflect a faculty member’s degree of compression or inversion and whether he or she is making the minimum for his or her rank or category.

In negotiations we continue to discuss what should happen in cases where salaries are funded not from the E&G budget but by student fees or research grants.

We remain firm on the principle that any wage reductions should be temporary and have a firm, fixed frame for implementation and return to normal.

Keep informed
Interested to know what’s going on in the PSU labor community? Keep informed and share your views on the PSU-AAUP Labor Blog at http://www.psuaaup.net/blog/blog.html.

In solidarity,
Michele Gamburd

May Bargaining Update: 05/31/09

At the negotiating table
At the negotiating table, your PSU-AAUP bargaining team has engaged in cordial discussions with representatives of the University, and we have made good progress in crafting the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In May, drafts of several articles have passed across the table, including revisions to Article 14: Promotion and Tenure; Article 17: Academic Professional Faculty; Article 24: Working Conditions; Article 28: Resolution of Disputes; and LOA#2: APs Flexible Work Schedules, And Wage and Hour Law Education. We also discussed issues related to workload, catastrophic illness, Article 25: Parking, and Article 30: Salary and Retirement.

Salary, Retirement, and Insurance
In every budget document that the administration has shared with PSU-AAUP and the campus community, they have made clear their intention to cut faculty salaries, even though no salary proposals have crossed the table during bargaining. Given the current fiscal situation, the administration seems to feel the need to make adjustments to salaries as soon as possible.
The PSU-AAUP bargaining team wants to see both the costs and the revenues before making decisions regarding salary, retirement, and insurance. The bargaining team's main concern in negotiations is how to approach decision-making when many key numbers are in flux, including the state budget, the OUS allocation to PSU, the approval of tuition increases, and the fall enrollment figures.

Contract Expires August 31
We are mindful that the contract expires on August 31st. In past years, the university has been willing to extend our contract to facilitate ongoing negotiations. This year, initial discussions indicate that they may be less willing to extend. Absent an extension of the current contract, at the end of the required 150 days of negotiations, the University would presumably call in a mediator, mediate for the shortest required time, submit their last best offer, and, after a 30-day cooling off period, impose their offer upon us. The bargaining team asks faculty members to engage with us and with other union leaders to tell us what members are willing to do about this situation.
The bargaining team does not want to prolong negotiations to the point that we risk having the administration move beyond negotiation and mediation to imposing a contract upon us. But the bargaining team also does not want prematurely to approve an agreement that accepts unnecessary concessions. The ideal would be to craft contract language that takes into account all contingencies, so that financial scenarios unfold differently depending on the values of several key variables.

Membership meeting 12:00 Friday June 5th
Be part of the process: let the collective bargaining team know your priorities! To update members on current bargaining issues and to solicit your input on important decisions (particularly those related to salary, insurance, and benefits), the collective bargaining team is holding a membership meeting. Please join us for lunch (12:00 - 2:00 pm) on Friday June 5th in SMSU 238 (Browsing Lounge.)

Your input welcomed
If you cannot join us at the membership meeting, and/or if you have additional comments, suggestions, or questions, please email them to me at gamburdm@pdx.edu.

Over the summer
The bargaining team will continue negotiations over the summer, meeting three times in June, once in July, and once in August. By the end of the summer, we should have a clearer picture of the state budget, the university budget, and the salary situation.

New Executive Director
Please welcome to campus Mr. Philip Lesch, our new Executive Director, who joined us on May 18th. Phil comes to us with a decade of union experience with the California School Employees Association and additional years of labor organizing with the Regional Airline Pilot Association. Phil has already made significant contributions to our bargaining conversations and to the oversight of our finances. His email is: phil@psuaaup.net.

Keep informed
Interested to know what's going on in the PSU labor community? Keep informed and share your views on the PSU-AAUP Labor Blog at http://www.psuaaup.net/blog/blog.html.

In solidarity,
Michele Gamburd

April Bargaining Update: 04/28/09

The PSU-AAUP bargaining team has met twice with the University during the month of April.

During our first meeting, we negotiated ground rules for negotiations and set a schedule to discuss all of the open articles. During our second meeting, we learned about the campus budget situation from Vice President for Finance and Administration, Lindsay Desrochers. We also reached a tentative agreement on Article 20: Intellectual Property Rights/ Distance Education.

Financial crisis
As you all know, the economic situation in the nation, state, and university is not rosy. At PSU we are facing possible cuts of 20% in state funding. Our CFO predicts a $28 million problem that would be only half way alleviated by a proposed tuition increase. Depending on the Governor’s mandate for reductions by state employees, the university may consider filling some of the remaining budget hole by making some form of cuts to salaries. We will know more after the May revenue forecast.

PSU-AAUP recognizes the gravity of the state’s financial situation. The bargaining team is keeping a close and critical eye on budgetary issues and examining the university’s priorities and spending choices. Your bargaining team is committed to working across the table to craft a contract true to the following principles. First, we will work to keep jobs on campus, preserving PSU’s human capital. Second, we will work to shield lower-paid bargaining unit members from cuts, should they be necessary. Third, we will work to preserve current levels of health care coverage. Fourth, we will work to craft language so that if cuts prove necessary, the situation will “snap back” to the current one at a designated time or threshold. During this time of economic difficulties, the bargaining team is working to preserve the gains made in the 2007-2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Intellectual Property Rights Agreement
The new language on Intellectual Property Rights represents a major step forward in AAUP’s ability to protect members’ rights to the teaching and scholarly materials they craft through their intellectual pursuits. The bargaining team thanks PSU-AAUP’s IPR/DE task force members (Michael Chamberlain, Carol Holdt, Kal Toth, and Jonathan Uto), who have worked tirelessly with their counterparts from the university for over a year to reach this agreement. The success of the IPR task force raises hopes that during this round of negotiations the bargaining team will also be able to make significant progress with other non-monetary issues (such as workload and fixed term faculty job security and promotion).

Get involved
Interested in learning more? Keep an eye on our new Labor Blog at http://www.psuaaup.net/blog/blog.html.
Interested in getting involved? Are you a full member of the union? If you’re not sure, you can check your pay stub. If you see a line that reads “AAUP Union Membership Dues,” then you are a full member. If you see a line that reads “AAUP Union Fair Share Deductions,” then you are not a full member. For a few extra dollars a month, you can receive the benefits of membership, including the right to participate in contract ratification votes, run for the Executive Council, and get reimbursed for renting or buying academic regalia for Commencement. See http://www.psuaaup.net/getinvolved.html for more information on membership benefits and for a membership form.
Interested in doing more? We are recruiting Unit Representatives for some units and members for several committees headed by Executive Council members. Contact me (gamburdm@pdx.edu), Jonathan Uto (utoj@pdx.edu) or Gary Brodowicz (brodowiczg@pdx.edu) for more information.

Annual Meeting - Please come!
Finally, please join us for our Annual Meeting, which will be held from 4:00 – 6:00 PM at the Simon Benson House on Thursday, 7 May. Meet the Collective Bargaining Team, welcome our new Executive Council members, and learn about union initiatives and the status of bargaining. We will have great food catered by Madison’s Grill. Please RSVP to aaup@psuaaup.net so that we can get a rough head count for ordering the food. Please invite your colleagues to join you and hear what’s happening. I hope to see you at the meeting!

In solidarity,

Michele Gamburd