Bargaining Session Report
Our latest bargaining meeting with the Oakland team was Thursday, July 1, 2021. We presented Oakland with counter proposals on a couple of outstanding language issues, returned to issues that have seen no response from Oakland as of yet and continued discussions of several other ongoing topics. Oakland presented one counter proposal at the end of the day’s session.
Pressing on our proposals
- Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Agreement. In response to our proposal from May 21st to remove the use of gendered pronouns from the Agreement, Oakland proposed replacing gendered pronouns with nouns, sharing some examples on June 25th. We believe this solution often leads to poorly written text and that it does not, as a general rule, align with the university’s message to create a diverse and inclusive environment. We responded to Oakland’s examples with examples of our own that show how gender-neutral pronouns would work in the Agreement.
- Removal from Campus. We continued to press for due process when Oakland determines they must remove a faculty member from campus.
- Dues Collection Process. Oakland responded to documents shared by our team regarding past difficulties with dues collection. Progress was made on this issue.
Responding to Oakland’s proposals
- Joint Appointments. We countered Oakland’s June 18th proposal on joint appointments with language that more accurately reflects best practice at peer institutions and works to meet the needs of individual faculty, departments and the university. Discussions were productive.
- Appendix A: Research and Full-Time Adjunct Faculty. The role and number of Full-Time Adjuncts continued to be a subject of discussion. We believe creating more non-tenured, non-job secured positions is not in the faculty or students’ best interests.
- Workload. Oakland shared a revised proposal on the workload policy review process at the end of the session (originally proposed by Oakland on June 18th, countered by our team on June 25th). We will review and respond at a later date.
The two teams are set to meet again on Thursday, July 8th.