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Dear Colleagues,
The BOT and the UFF met Wednesday this week and spent the whole session on Article 23, Salaries. As was the case last week, over 40 faculty members were in attendance, one of whom displayed a poster instead of a picture: “Show the faculty how much you appreciate our hard work through this pandemic. . . SALARY INCREASE NOW!”
And to that we say “Amen!”
Thefirst proposal was the BOT’s, and as before, it offered only a bonus, this time 3%, with a maximum of $3,000. It turns out that for the 15% of faculty who earn below $67,000 a year, this offer is worse than their last week’s offer of $2,000 for everyone
The UFF presented its proposal, which retained a raise component—1% across-the-board—and proposed a $5,000 bonus.
If we have any hope of keeping up with the cost of living, we need a permanent increase, and 1% is certainly affordable according to everything we know about the University’s unrestricted funds. But, while actual raises are normally calculated as a percentage increase to salary, we don’t see any reason why we should differentiate among faculty receiving a one-time payment. We all endured the pandemic together, and the administration should recognize the dedication we all showed and that allowed the university to function during the pandemic. The lowest-paid among us deserve no less than the highest-paid.
Our arguments had minimal effect, as the BOT’s next offer proposed a weird hybrid: a 3% bonus, this time with a floor of $2,000 and a ceiling of $3,000. What proportion of faculty actually would receive 3%? About 45%; the rest would get either $2,000 or $3,000. It would be hard to design a more complicated plan. And we don’t understand their goal in trying to establish uneven rewards for faculty.
The UFF countered with the day’s last proposal: an across-the-board raise of 0.75% with a floor of $1,000 and a bonus of $4,500.
Next week we will meet remotely on Wednesday, September 8 at 1:00 (note the early start time). The topic will again be salaries.
We encourage you to attend and we encourage you to create a sign to post in lieu of your picture! These are attention-grabbing and underscore that extent to which faculty are angry about the meager salary package we’re being offered!
Bargaining Link (Wed, Sept 8, 1:00): https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97444713178
If you are a member of UFF, you are also welcome to our caucuses, which typically occur once or twice during bargaining and at its conclusion.
Caucus link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83924119052
Regular updates can be found at our webpage: https://uff-fsu.org/
The key to a strong collective bargaining agreement is a strong membership base, so if you are not a member, please join! There has never been a more important time for us to stand together. https://uff-fsu.org/wp/join/
All best,
Irene Padavic and Scott Hannahs
Co-Chief Negotiators, UFF-FSU