UC’s Lead Negotiator Disavows High Faculty Turnover Rate

Representing the UC Office of the President, lead negotiator Nadine Fishel said that UC admin is “interested in solving problems and coming up with solutions.” But when asked directly whether UCOP considers a documented 26% annual turnover rate (meaning about 1600 teaching faculty lose their jobs each year) to be a problem, Fishel said she “wouldn’t necessarily characterize it as very high,” and told us that “assistant professors also don’t have job security, so you’re not the only employees at the UC in this situation.”

UC-AFT Passes Three Proposals on Job Stability, New Faculty Orientations, and Release Time

Nearly 100 UC-AFT members and supporters backed the UC-AFT volunteer faculty negotiators as they presented our latest counterproposal on Article 7a--Pre-Six Appointments. We’re standing firm on our demands for rehiring rights, multi-year appointments, earlier appointment letters, notice of non-reappointment, and peer-reviewed evaluations of teaching.

Over 160 Members and Allies Pack the Zoom Room!

We set a record for the number of lecturers and allies attending bargaining on July 14. Even more impressive was the fact that the vast majority of the folks on the call said out loud: “If UC admin forces us to impasses, I will support a strike.” This was a massive and impressive display of collective power. Nadine Fishel - the UC chief negotiator - did not like that one bit and tried to downplay her own decision-making authority.

UC Punts Again on Job Stability and Career Pathway

In short, on June 19:
Having taken three weeks to examine our emergency-formulated, extraordinary circumstance-motivated, burden-shouldering proposal for Job Stability and Career Pathway, UC negotiators were prepared to say … that they’ll have answers for us next time.

Then, on June 24:
UC’s negotiators responded to our job security proposal with the following: A supposal for a sideletter to the contract that would describe a “pilot program” to grant pre-continuing lecturers “the right” to inform their departments about courses we believe we are qualified to teach.

UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #19

May 15, 2020

Zoom

Full Contract Bargaining Continues with Focus on Career Pathways for All Lecturers

During the session, our UC-AFT team pressed the UC’s administrators on their proposal for a new career path to Senior Continuing Lecturer. While we’re happy that management agrees with us that such a promotional opportunity is important for lecturers’ continued growth and career development, their most recent proposal would not permit many continuing lecturers to actually move up.

UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #18

This statement was written and read in bargaining on March 21 by UCB Legal Studies Lecturer, Ben Brown.

UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #17

March 21, 2020

Zoom
 

Advocating for Teaching Faculty in the Midst of Crisis

With the entire State of California now under a “stay at home” order, this week was UC-AFT’s first virtual bargaining session convened on Zoom. Berkeley Law lecturer and bargaining team member Ben Brown opened the session with a powerful personal statement that eloquently situated the events of the past two weeks in the context of our ongoing contract negotiations.

UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #16

March 13, 2020

UC San Diego

Advocating for Teaching Faculty in the Midst of Crisis
 

Teaching faculty across the UC system are facing new challenges and stressors as the COVID-19 pandemic affects our work and home lives. On Friday, the UC-AFT negotiating team came to the table with A) stories from members about the heroic efforts UC-AFT faculty are making to keep teaching and reaching students during the crisis, and B) proposals to ensure high quality instruction this spring and protect the safety and livelihoods of our members.

UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #15

March 6, 2020

UC Riverside

Here to Bargain despite UC Admin’s Shenanigans

Thousands of teaching faculty in our bargaining unit have been working for more than a month without a contract. As our volunteer bargaining team and a large contingent of student allies were settling into the designated bargaining room on Friday morning, the UC’s negotiators tried to move the session to an off-campus location because, in their words, the on-campus location was “disruptive.”