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The UFF and Board of Trustees teams spent Wednesday’s bargaining session negotiating salary but remain far apart. Differences center on the total amount of salary money and on its distribution. The BOT team offered a package amounting to 2.5% of the total faculty salary base to be distributed solely on the basis of departmental merit and deans’ discretion.
The UFF team pointed to the $21 million allocation from the legislature in addition to the $20 million preeminence funding and offered a package totaling 5.5% of the salary base to be distributed according to the priorities indicated by the spring UFF poll (performance-based increases, market equity, departmental merit).
Top priority is performance-based raises to be accorded to all faculty whose annual ratings fall above “official concern,” with the intention of keeping up with the rate of inflation and not adding to the market equity problem. The UFF-FSU team has been hopeful about performance-based raises, given the size of the legislative allocation and Trustee Allan Bense’s comment that it was a “good legislative session, so hopefully professors and staff will do okay this year.” Those funds were partly designated to help FSU reach its preeminence goals through recruiting and retaining faculty. What could be more central to the goal of faculty retention than a good salary package? It is difficult to see how FSU will achieve its goals with the BOT team’s current salary offer.
The UFF team also has been hopeful about the prospect of addressing the long-standing market equity issue during this session, since faculty have been hearing statements from top administrators about their commitment to remedying the problem this year. Unfortunately, there appears to be a mismatch between the administration’s words about acting this year and their bargaining proposals. To see no market-equity remedy, on top of an unwillingness to put any funds towards cost-of-living adjustments, ensures that the problem will worsen.
The UFF-FSU’s third priority is departmental merit, in keeping with the goal of ensuring that any high-productivity “good year” for a faculty member never slips past unrewarded.
The UFF and BOT teams agree on keeping promotion raises at 12% and 15% to encourage and reward faculty for advancement.
Bargaining is scheduled for the rest of the summer, and salary is the top issue. We encourage all interested faculty to attend on Wednesdays at 2:00 in the FSU Training Center.