Lecturer Bargaining Update: LEO Tentative Agreement Reached 9/13/21 & Contract Ratified 9/19/21
LEO Lecturers reached a Tentative Agreement on September 13th, 2021.
The following communication was sent out to the Bargaining Unit:
“Dear Colleague:
I am writing with the happy news that the bargaining team has reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with admin for a three-year contract. The Union Council has voted to accept the TA and send it to the membership for ratification. If you are a member, look for a ratification email and a ballot to vote, probably this Wednesday. Also come to the General Membership Meeting (GMM) tomorrow evening, Tuesday, at 7 pm to learn more about the new TA. If you are not yet a member, join now at leounion.org/join and you will be eligible to vote and attend the GMM.
A detailed summary will be provided with the ratification ballot.
To state the obvious, this means that there will be no strike vote and no strike. If the agreement is ratified by the membership (it is called tentative because it does not go into effect until the membership votes), LEO will have achieved two contracts with amazing gains for our members without having to strike, which in itself is a testament to our organization and strength.
Our current contract is extended until the end of the ratification vote, at which point the new contract will go into effect.
Kirsten Herold, LEO President”
Graphic announcing the LEO Lecturer Tentative Agreement, featuring an image of Bobby Mandamachi holding a megaphone.
This message was followed quickly by the announcement of ratification to the membership:
“Dear LEO members/colleagues:
I am writing to let you know that we have a new contract! 660 members voted YES, 23 voted NO, and 2 abstained. Overall, 685, or 56% of eligible voters, cast their ballot. The ratification means that we will get our raises effective 9/1/21; however, some raises, especially those from the MoU on major review status may be delayed, but paid out retroactively in October. We will send out a flowchart in the next few days to help you assess if you received the correct raise. Also, in the next few weeks and months, we will be highlighting some of our other gains, so members can make sure they are receiving the benefits to which they are entitled.
Overall, this is a very gratifying vote. While I won't pretend it was easy to bargain via Zoom, we had fantastic support from our members. So many people worked so hard on this campaign -- the bargaining team, the various subcommittees, the Contract Action Team, and not least our Communications group. Many members showed up week after week at bargaining, and others came when they could. Over 780 members (in itself an amazing number) participated in this campaign; this is your victory too. We also had amazing solidarity from GEO, the All Campus Labor Council (ACLC), the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation (HVALF), and the Central Student Government (CSG).
Our fantastic staff deserve special recognition, as they went above and beyond to fight for us: Matt Oches (Ann Arbor organizer and bargaining committee anchor), Ashlee Hoffman (Contract Action Team anchor), Brianna Foraker (Dearborn organizer & Comms anchor), Alysia Trevino (Flint organizer and SPACE anchor), Tyrice Denson (fomer Flint Organizier and SPACE anchor), Amytess Girgis (press liaison and resident Rhodes Scholar), and Maia Farrar and Courtney Smith (Ann Arbor organizers). Our lead organizer Alex Elkins deserves his own sentence because no one could equal his work ethic, dedication, and ability to keep a million balls in the air at the same time.
Finally, David Hecker and Jon Curtiss from AFT Michigan were ready to assist when we needed their expertise, which was often. And working with admin's chief negotiator, the unflappable Dominick Fanelli, made a difficult process go much better than it could have.
Please come celebrate the end of a long campaign, this Tuesday the 21st at 5-8 pm at The Corner Brewery, 720 Norris Street, Ypsilanti. RSVP at bit.ly/LEOevents.
Solidarity,
Kirsten Herold
LEO President”