Lecturer Bargaining Update: Bargaining Recap for 1/12/2024
After winter break, we met back at the bargaining table over Zoom on Friday. Our next session is this Friday, January 19th in the East Room of Pierpont Commons on North Campus. Register to attend and support your bargaining team!
There is extensive construction on North Campus, so parking is limited. Nearby lots (with both permitted and visitor parking) include the Walgreen Drama Center and Art & Architecture Building, but we recommend you sign up to carpool or take public transit if you can
LEO received the following counters from management on Friday:
Article IV: Payroll Dues Deduction - Unfortunately, our desire to have LEO union dues come ahead of other deductions is not feasible due to tax laws. Payroll assures us that the LEO dues deductions already come before other voluntary deductions like sports tickets.
Article XIV: Provisions for Special Case Appointments - An article opened by management with changes designed to reorganize the article for better readability & understanding for administrators. They would additionally like more opportunities to hire “noted professionals.”
Article XL: Printing and Distribution of the Agreement - Opened by admin, minor changes to reduce admin’s burden to notify LEOs of the availability of the contract.
Article XXII: Health and Safety - Admin struck out the majority of our requested changes, retaining only a special conference to discuss emergency preparedness and classroom safety. We had a good discussion in caucus about pushing for some benefits beyond a meeting! This includes safety training, especially in situations where such training is necessary for safe implementation of curriculum, easy access to emergency procedures, ensured access to safe, accessible, and gender inclusive restrooms, and the ability to request to teach remotely rather than canceling an in-person class.
MOU 2: Full-Time Opportunities for Lecturers, MOU 4: Enhancing Job Security, MOU 6: Special Layoff Provisions for Long-Serving Lecturers, and Articles XXVII (Posting) and XLIII (Job Security): LEO moved pieces of MOU 2, 4, and 6 into a new Job Security article in the contract but admin is proposing moving them into existing articles! This is all a little hard to keep track of, but there are some notable changes:
Admin is pushing back on not posting positions when more work is being offered to a part time lecturer, as well as on offering full time work to qualified part time lecs.
Admin doesn’t want to break out duties into % effort for each type of work on appointment letters.
CASL lecturer workload policy: some good changes here, including reducing the administrative burden of putting lecs on small (1-2 credit) overloads and ensuring that lecs are paid in a timely manner for their work; allowing coursebanking over 1 academic year for IIIs and IVs
LEO sent the following counters back to management on Friday:
MOU 7: Assignment of Lecturer III/IV Duties - LEO is working to reduce the time to special conference for reclassification, so lecturers can be put into proper title series sooner
Article XXVIII: Workload - We want better descriptions of our work in the workload standards, and assurances that workload expectations can be reasonably accomplished in an average work week
Article XXVI: Faculty Support - We want access to instruction-related orientations, access to private office space when needed (for things like FERPA-protected meetings with students), and all instructional supplies
We had a small group session on Friday where we worked on the scope of the current leapfrogging problem, and clarified that we are seeking a solution that minimizes this problem in the future, which we believe we have achieved with our salary proposal.
Join us again this Friday in Pierpont Commons on North Campus. Register to attend and sign up for carpool if needed.
Be sure to follow our proposals on LEO’s Public Proposal Tracker.
If you join bargaining on Zoom, make sure to change your profile picture and Zoom background.
Dues paying members have access to our Lecturer Slack Workspace where they can get live bargaining updates as well as participate in a myriad of different group conversations where questions get asked and answered and fun is had.
We’re only as strong as our collective efforts! Learn about and join one of LEO’s many committees.
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