Not Good Enough for the Presidents!

February 12, 2018

The governor’s money offer amounts to a pay cut as it does not keep pace with the increases in cost of living.  That’s not good enough for the presidents.  The presidents have decided to extract as many benefits from us as possible on top of the pay cut while refusing most language gains the union proposes.

The union proposed a modification to the 15% rule that would allow nearly all current part-time bargaining unit members to retain their jobs, but require Bridgewater (26.5%) and Westfield (22.0%) to address their overuse. That’s not good enough for the presidents.  They insist that the cap go to 20% at all universities.

The union proposed allowing the use of up to a full semester of the sick-leave bank for birth, adoption and other FMLA-eligible situations.  The presidents countered by only allowing the use for birth and adoption.  That’s not good enough for the presidents.  They included reducing the time anyone can remain on the bank for personal illness from two years to one. This is not a real cost issue for the universities.

The full-time faculty and librarians are doing a great job as PTR results show.  That’s not good enough for the presidents.  They propose eliminating minimum expenditures so they can reward faculty and librarians with nothing.

Are your students ill-prepared, don’t study, don’t attend class, or spend the entire class on their cell phone no matter how many times you tell them to put it away?  The presidents believe you need to be punished for it.  They insist on including enrollment and retention data for your classes in your evaluation.

We have pushed hard for increased course equivalencies, some of which are supported by Deans of Education, only to be told it’s too expensive.

And finally, nearly 50% of all full-time hires are now temporary, non-tenure-track. That’s not good enough for the presidents.  They want to hire 100% of academic administrators with faculty tenure.

As a result the union will be preparing additional activities for you to participate in and considering more aggressive tactics this spring.  The good will of working together on the GIC fiasco has evaporated.

Tell your president: