Lecturer Bargaining Update: Flint Bargaining Kickoff Recap for 11/17/2023
The Bargaining Team and members caucus in Flint. Photo by AndyT Thompson.
This past Friday, we had our third lecturer bargaining session in Flint and our final campus Kickoff Event! Our next session will be held in Ann Arbor on Friday, December 1st where we will share our final set of contract proposals. RSVP if you can show up in person or on Zoom as we present proposals on Teaching Professor titles, union rights, Spring/Summer salaries, governance, lecturer feedback for supervisors and an assistance fund for international lecturers, among others.
In the morning we started off the day by presenting our changes to Article XVIII: Benefit Plans. These changes were mostly to bring the information and resources in the contract up to date. We also made a proposal to curtail the rising cost of prescription drug costs and limiting these increases to 10% per year.
From there we proposed changes to the Benefits Eligibility article. Here we are seeking to protect Lecturers from having benefits canceled retroactively in the event of a change in appointment and to make it easier for retirees to get the most out of their benefits in retirement.
We proposed a Healthcare Coalition in a new Memorandum of Understanding to join with other unions on campus to work on improving healthcare, dental, and vision benefits.
We then presented a brand new article: Article XLIII Job Security. This new article combines three previous MoUs. We propose that the University maintain a record of courses that Lecturers have taught before so that it is easier for units to offer them more work if they are below full time. It would also allow Lecturers to be fast-tracked to find additional work in other units or on other campuses if they are below 100%.
The final article we presented in the morning was Article XXVI: Faculty Support. This article would establish minimum requirements for office space, supplies, internet use, and orientations.
During the noon lunch break, allies joined us for a Kickoff event where attendees shared their experiences working towards a UM Flint that provides quality education including increased student support and fair working conditions. We spent the time to share or write together what we were thankful for and hopeful for in this bargaining season.
In the afternoon we received a brief presentation from Gerald Glasco, Interim Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance at UM-Flint. The presentation was somewhat analogous to the presentation we received the week before from his counterpart on the Dearborn campus. Glasco claimed that student enrollment has been declining for the last ten years, although undergrad enrollment is up this semester, and the University is projecting future losses in each of the next six years, despite annual revenue at Flint exceeding $86 million in Fiscal Year 2023. The big news is that the University revealed that the Ann Arbor campus pays for the astronomical chancellor salaries in both Flint and Dearborn, including the $700,000 payment that former Chancellor Dutta received when he left the University!
Be sure to watch us on the news!
Our next bargaining session is back in Ann Arbor on December 1st. Show your support for our Bargaining Team, and show our collective strength by coming to these events and attending hybrid bargaining.
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. Additionally you can check out our new LEO website bargaining page.
We’re only as strong as our collective efforts! Learn about and join one of LEO’s many committees.
Please share any photos or videos you might’ve taken at LEO events with communications@leounion.org.
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