Lecturer Bargaining Tentative Agreement (TA) and Ratification Vote

On April 26th, LEO reached a tentative agreement (TA) with University Administration for our next contract. It is up to the membership on all three campuses to vote to ratify the contract. Please take a look at these links for the details of the TA and for our FAQ about the ratification process. Per the LEO constitution, a TA needs to get a majority YES vote in total, as well as a majority on at least two of the three campuses.

The ballot went out to all members from Simply Voting around 8 am on April 30th, with the subject line “Lecturer 2024 Ratification Vote,” and it will close at 5pm on Friday, May 10th. We strongly urge you to vote YES to ratify. 

If you did not receive a ballot from “vote@simplyvoting.com,” please email brianna@leounion.org to help you locate your ballot. Only dues paying members can vote on things like contract ratification, strike authorization, electing members of the bargaining team, etc. To be eligible for future votes, join LEO here: https://www.leounion.org/join

To help members better understand the tentative agreements to our contract, our Union Council held General Membership Meetings (GMMs) via Zoom for all three campuses. In addition to those holding the three GMMs, we are using this post to briefly discuss the salary TA and highlight five other significant gains. These gains are notable selections from the more than 40 changes and additions to our contract agreed to by the bargaining teams during the six months of negotiations.

Salary TA

The TA is a reflection of the University Administration’s budget silos between the three campuses, which creates austerity on the Dearborn and Flint campuses. The Administration's position that ongoing employee costs in Dearborn & Flint cannot be covered by Ann Arbor’s general fund means that the bargaining teams had to get creative. The TA thus includes an imperfect solution of offering three lump sums for Dearborn & Flint lecturers spread throughout the life of the 4-year contract. These lump sum dollar amounts will not be added to the base salary because those would be ongoing costs. These decisions were discussed at great length and were not taken lightly. We recognize the final outcome is highly disappointing to many members, and that the work continues to further improve the circumstances for Dearborn and Flint. You can read more about salary in the TA Summary Table, under Article XV Salary. 

To summarize: Ann Arbor lecturers will be getting a 27.42% cumulative raise, whereas Dearborn and Flint will be getting a 12.55% cumulative raise over the life of the contract along with three lump sum payments (3% in year 1; 2% in year 2; and a flat $1,000 in year 4).

Five significant gains

Though salary is understandably the main event of our contract negotiations, we would like to feature five additional significant wins (in no particular order) for our members that would not be possible without high union membership and participation:

1. Expansion of Retirement Benefits Eligibility (Article XVII)

   Lecturer IIs, IIIs, and IVs with a minimum 1% appointment and funding of at least four (4) continuous months duration will continue to be eligible for the Basic Retirement Plan. Beginning January 1, 2025, Lecturer Is and Intermittent Lecturers who have had at least one year of employment will also be eligible for the Basic Retirement Plan so long as they have a minimum of 1% appointment and funding of at least four (4) continuous months duration (previously that threshold was a 50% appointment). All Employees with a minimum 1% appointment and funding of at least four (4) continuous months duration will be eligible for the 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Account and 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan.

   
   For context, most of our benefits will still require a 50% appointment of at least 4 contiguous months to be eligible for the Group Health Insurance Plan (medical and prescription drugs), Dental Plan, Vision Plan, University and Optional Group Life Insurance Plan, Dependent Life Insurance, and Legal Plan. In addition, Employees who teach both semesters and average at least a 50% appointment for the academic year will be eligible for benefits.

2. Support for International Lecturers & Assistance Fund (MOU 11 and MOU H)

   International Employees may receive services or advice through the International Centers in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, or Flint. Services or advice provided depends on various factors, including the Employee’s immigration status and whether UM is the immigration status sponsor. The International Center Ann Arbor will provide a new Employee orientation, which will include topics such as general information on adapting to the University and living in Michigan; relevant immigration statuses; and how to access information about health insurance, retirement, and legal services.

   
   Employees on the Ann Arbor campus, who are in a non-immigrant status sponsored by the University, who are not on full layoff or a leave of absence at the time the application is submitted, and whose FTR is less than $75,000, will be eligible to apply for reimbursement of funds from the International Lecturers Assistance Fund to reimburse reasonable expenses (e.g. administrative fees and travel expenses) related to maintaining their immigration status. Employees may apply for up to $1,500 per academic year.

3. Improved Job Security (increasing appointment levels, performance evaluations, expanded layoff provisions) (Article XLIII)

   Academic units will offer increased appointment opportunities to qualified Employees below 100%, when feasible. Such offers may be made without posting the position. If layoffs are necessary due to programmatic changes, the unit will notify Academic HR, who will arrange a Special Conference between the Union and the unit. At the conference, alternatives to layoffs will be explored; some examples of alternatives include a) work outside of the Employee’s unit and/or campus; b) assistance to other faculty; and c) administrative work. Additionally, long-serving lecturers who have held appointments for at least 10 years who are placed on full layoff will have the option of being placed on the layoff list of one additional appointing unit on any of the three campuses.

4. Principal Investigators for Research (MOU C)

   Employees may request an additional non-Lecturer classification title and appointment in order to serve as Principal Investigator (P.I.) on an internal or external grant. Eligible non-Lecturer classification titles may include research scientist and research investigator.

5. Professional Development funding increases (Article XXIV)

   For the 2024-2025 academic year, the annual level of funding for the Lecturer Professional Development Fund (“LPDF”) on the Ann Arbor campus will be: $92,500, increasing by $2,500 a year. Funding will increase incrementally in subsequent years. For each academic year between 2024 and 2028, the level of funding for the LPDF on the Dearborn and Flint campuses will be $27,500. Grants from the Fund will not exceed $2,500 for any employee in an academic year, which is an increase from the $1,500 in the current contract.

   
   For context, all Employees will have equal access with tenure-track faculty to all professional development activities. Employees whose job duties include course development (defined as when an Employee has been assigned to develop a new course, or significantly revise an existing course) are eligible to apply for CRLT grants. Employees on the Dearborn campus are eligible to apply for HUB grants. Employees on the Flint campus are eligible to apply for TCLT grants.