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UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #1 Davis April 17

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UC-AFT Faculty Bargaining Session #1

April 17th, 2019

UC Davis

 

First Victory: Keeping bargaining sessions open and transparent!

The UC-AFT bargaining team started the session by winning several concessions from Management regarding the ground rules governing bargaining sessions. Prior to the Bargaining kick-off, UCOP circulated a proposed list of highly restrictive ground rules -- most notably a rule that would have closed bargaining sessions and prevented our members from attending.
 

The bargaining team stood firm and refused to allow UCOP to keep our members in the dark, thus reaffirming UC-AFT’s commitment to full transparency for and access to its members. This is your contract, and these are your bargaining sessions! And the UC Davis session showed how necessary and powerful that transparency is: the 6-hour session was attended by over 75 Unit 18 members and supporters.

Moving Expenses: UC must invest in faculty who invest their careers in UC

As part of our larger demand for faculty equity, the bargaining team made an initial proposal that the university help cover moving expenses for Unit 18 appointees. While senate faculty are routinely compensated for moving expenses when they relocate for a nationally posted position, there is no equivalent process for teaching faculty. Our negotiators pointed out the contradiction in UCOP’s policies: just as many of us are willing to uproot our lives and move (from out of town, out of state, even out of country) to serve UC, UC must also invest in us. They cannot demand expertise and commitment while simultaneously treating teaching faculty as disposable gig workers.

Medical Separation: Protecting faculty when they are most vulnerable

The bargaining team also fought for faculty equity in an initial proposal to revise the process of medical separation. Medical separation occurs when the university terminates an employee’s contract due to illness or disability. While rare, medical separation is devastating: teaching faculty undergoing medical separation are liable to lose both their income and their health insurance, precisely when they need it the most. Current contract language is based on staff, rather than faculty, procedures--yet another sign of the University’s untenable double standard between senate faculty and teaching faculty. By proposing changes that will protect our most vulnerable members, we’re ultimately fighting for a contract that reduces precariousness for all.