A Guide to Decision Making at the Lecturer Bargaining Table

Last summer, ahead of the start of bargaining, LEO put together comprehensive “bargaining protocols” to clarify the lecturers’ process and set expectations. Now that lecturers are well into bargaining for their next contract — and getting down to many of the highest profile proposals — the Communications Committee thought it would be a good time to provide an explainer on how decision making happens at the bargaining table.

So…who has the final say? You do! LEO’s lecturer members vote on ratification of the final tentative agreement (TA). When the time comes, the vote on the contract TA is all or nothing. Per the LEO constitution, a TA needs to get a majority vote in total, as well as a majority on at least two of the three campuses.

It takes a whole lot of decision making to get to a ratification vote though. Let’s break down who does what, who has authority to make decisions, how decisions get made, and how you can communicate with decision-makers as a general member.

Who does what

The Bargaining Committee (B-Comm) is made up of multiple subcommittees that draft contract proposals based on member surveys. The elected Bargaining Team (B-Team or Team) represents the interests of membership at the bargaining table. The Team Manager directs the work of the Team. Area Leads within the Team serve as primary LEO speakers at the table.

Members elected colleagues to represent them on the Team and voted to approve the bargaining platform. Any member is eligible to serve on B-Comm. During bargaining, members attend bargaining to show support for the Team and their investment in the process and platform, as well as participate in bargaining caucuses. 

How decisions on proposals are made

When the B-Comm subcommittees draft proposals, they also establish the “wiggle room” for each one. This is the capacity or scope of negotiation for the Team. It’s super important to have because regressive bargaining — asking for more than a previous offer — is not allowed. When necessary, the Team may seek a wider scope by requesting more wiggle room from the relevant B-Comm subcomittee. 

Proposals passed during bargaining sessions are discussed in caucus. Caucus discussions either result in the Team (1) approving revised proposals to take back to the table or (2) sending feedback to B-Comm to revise proposals, including possible requests to adjust the wiggle room. The process repeats until the Team votes to accept a TA on the proposal.

The Team has ultimate decision making power regarding proposal negotiations at the table and tentative agreements. During Team meetings or caucuses, only Team members may vote to change a proposal during negotiations or accept a TA. The Team Manager calls the votes. Occasionally the Team may ask all participants to vote in a straw poll to help clarify the sentiment in the room, but these are not binding.

Completing this process on each proposal comes together for the Team to reach a contract TA. They then bring it to the Union Council, who sends it to the membership for a vote. 

How general members can participate

Broad member participation is the foundation of a successful bargaining campaign. As lecturers enter this last stretch of the bargaining process, it’s a critical time to be aware of what’s happening at the table and know how to participate.

With that, the best way to be involved is by attending bargaining and participating in bargaining caucuses (see the LEO event schedule for details and registration), as well as attending General Membership Meetings (GMMs) and other contract actions such as rallies. 

Beyond this general participation, the most meaningful thing you can do at this point in the bargaining process is to consider joining the Contract Action Team. Contact Moe Fitzsimons at moe@leounion.org for more information and to volunteer. 

We also encourage all members to join our Slack (Lecturer or GLAM, email communications@leounion.org or your steward for an invite) and use the #bargaining-2023 channel to follow along with live bargaining updates and be in community with fellow members.

Written by: Heidi Burkhardt (she/her, LEO-GLAM, Ann Arbor Campus), Communications Committee member.

Many thanks to Raya Samet, Nora Krinitsky, Cindee Giffen, and Kirsten Herold for their reviews of this post to ensure accuracy.