August 30, 2011

Welcome back! I hope that you had an enjoyable and restful summer. This update will focus on the new collective bargaining agreement that was finalized over the summer.

Thanks to all that found the time to vote on ratifying the contract back in April. Over the summer I received a few emails and phone calls regarding the timeliness of the ratification request and want to let you know how this came about. Yes, with final exams, grading, and the end of semester activities/reports that are due yesterday, this was probably the worst time that we could have asked you to vote on ratification (actually a worse time would have been after you were off contract and possibly unavailable in mid-May). However, time was of the essence to ensure that we received a salary increase starting in July 2011. So, why did we have to do it then and so rapidly?

The process of contract approval

1. Reach tentative agreement (TA) between the UAFT and University negotiating teams (this occurred on Tuesday April 19th)
2. The UAFT Executive Board approves the TA for unit-wide ratification (this occurred on Friday April 22nd)
3. Union members vote to ratify the TA (this occurred April 26 - 29th)
4. The University Board of Regents approves the contract (this happened at the June 3, 2011 Board meeting). At this point the contract became valid.

Legislative funding of our salary increase
In order to be assured of receiving our negotiated salary increase, the Legislature must fund our increase by line item inclusion in the operating budget. However, the Legislature could not include any amount in the budget for any union that did not have an approved/signed contract. Ergo the rush to get this contract approved.

What if we delayed the vote?
We had to get a ratification vote immediately in order to increase the likelihood of our 2011-2012 salary increase being included in this year.s State budget. If the salary increase was not included in the budget, we faced the possibility of not getting an increase at all or having to wait until spring 2012 when a supplemental budget could be approved that provided the University with funds to pay our salary increase. Also, UAA and UAS commencement ceremonies were being held this past weekend and the end of faculty appointments was rapidly approaching giving us precious little time to get a vote.

Viewing the new CBA
If you have not had time to review the contract, please click on the contract link above to view the document. You will find a summary of the important changes, a copy of the contract using Track Changes formatting, and a copy of the final document.

If you have any questions or comments, please use the contact link above.

Tim Powers
President UAFT, Local 2404

 

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