Bargaining Session Report
We continue to bargain, now under a mutually-agreed upon 1-week extension of the current Agreement.
Chairs in the Bargaining Unit. First one bit of good news: Oakland withdrew its proposal to remove department chairpersons and coordinators from the bargaining unit and we have TA’ed Article 2 of the Agreement with no changes.
Layoff and Recall. We started the session by presenting a counter to Oakland’s proposal on layoff and recall. At the previous session, Oakland introduced a revised version of their proposal. It was a small change from their first proposal which we describe in our August 5th post. It still would give them the ability to layoff faculty for undefined “enrollment or financial circumstances” and allow them to completely bypass the contractual consultation process “if circumstances warrant more immediate action, e.g., to facilitate immediate shutdowns due to circumstances beyond Oakland’s control”. In our discussions about this, they mentioned a pandemic as one such circumstance. Their proposal still maintains an unacceptably broad ability to layoff faculty with barely-defined parameters.
In our counter proposal, we rejected this overly broad layoff criteria and kept the position shift layoff procedure currently outlined in our contract. We did make movement on the number of positions that would be restored in a position shift layoff and on time of notice and post-layoff medical benefits. We also reintroduced language, first put on the table by us in early June, that would allow faculty on layoff to keep their Oakland email address and access to SAIL and OU course management systems. Oakland then submitted a counter that accepted our language on keeping email and SAIL, but not Moodle access.
Economics. There were movements in economics with both sides delivering counters. We made concessions in key areas of travel and promotion raises, but still seek to hold the line on benefits and continue to ask for an equitable salary. Oakland made changes to their retirement contribution reduction proposal, but their proposal still results in a much lower employer contribution by the end of the agreement. The two sides also differ on the length of agreement. Oakland continues to press for a 5-year agreement. Such a long-term agreement is inappropriate given the uncertainties of this year and the concessionary economic package Oakland is proposing. In our proposals we continue to focus on a two-year agreement.
Landmines in the Oakland Economic Package. Although our posts on Oakland’s economic proposal have focused on dollars, there are some other items that they put in their economic proposal that would have serious negative consequences for the faculty:
- In paragraph 89, summer rate of pay, they wish to strike the language that gives priority to bargaining unit members for assignment of summer classes.
- In paragraph 92, online/distance instruction, they wish to add language that says “Oakland may also designate courses to be delivered on an online/distance and/or hybrid basis.All online/distance learning in lieu of in-person instruction may only be provided with Oakland’s consent.”
- In Article 16, insurances, for dental, optical, HMO, and long-term disability, they seek to strike the language that specifies specific plans, or essentially similar plans.The idea of “essentially similar plans” is important because there can be legitimate reasons for changing providers during the time of an agreement, but those three words help protect faculty should Oakland choose providers who offer substandard healthcare coverage.
At Monday’s session we challenged them on these parts of their proposal. They expressed willingness to restore the language of “essentially similar plans” though we haven’t seen their language yet. However, on the first two items, they confirmed our worst assumptions, that Oakland does wish to assign more summer courses to non-bargaining unit faculty and to exert complete control over modality of instruction, thereby eroding departmental control of course development and scheduling.
The two sides are scheduled to meet next on Wednesday, August 18th.