COMMUNICATION & ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE
August 21, 2023
What is a “Tentative Agreement”?
Takeaways:
Dear Colleagues,
We hope that you all had a good summer and were able to get at least a little bit of a break. We’ve been happily busy chatting with faculty members on campus, at coffee shops, and at their homes about Union membership. Our bargaining committee has been busy working towards a Tentative Agreement (TA) on our full contract. We know that this is likely a new term for many of you. We’re used to “TA” meaning something completely different! In this email we will explain what a TA is and what happens when we reach a final TA.
In short, a Tentative Agreement is a proposed agreement between the administration and our bargaining committee that has not yet been ratified by our Union members. You may have noticed that our bargaining committee has reported on TAs for specific contract articles already. You can find a list of these TAs along with progress on other contract articles on our status of bargaining table. The administration and our bargaining committee have both agreed to the language in those articles. However, none of the improvements or protections in those articles will go into effect until we have ratified our full contract. Our bargaining committee will continue to work to find common ground while protecting the interests of faculty until they have TAs on all of the contract articles necessary for a full contract. At that point, Union members will be given the opportunity to decide if they want this TA to become a legally enforceable document governing their working conditions.
Only Union members will be able to vote on the TA and there will likely be a fairly short time window in which to vote. We will want to lock in the protections and improvements from this TA as quickly as possible! We imagine that there will be a big push to sign membership cards during this window. We have a dedicated team of volunteers across all schools and campuses who have been helping faculty sign membership cards, but we all also have many other responsibilities. The best way to ensure that you are ready to vote once we get a TA is to sign a membership card now. If you don’t like the TA, you will want to be a member so that you can vote against it. If you do like it, you will want to be a member so that you can vote for it and be a part of the Union that made it possible. All Union members will start paying dues only after we ratify our contract regardless of when they signed a membership card. There really is no reason to wait.
We hope that you will consider signing your membership card this week before the craziness of the fall semester begins. As always, you can find out more about membership and request to sign a card on our website. You can also visit our membership card table on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning on August 22 from 10 AM-1:30 PM.
We voted overwhelmingly in support of forming a Union because we want the protections, transparency, and improvements of a legally binding, enforceable contract. It will take all of us working together to make this happen. We look forward to welcoming you to our Union and fighting alongside you for a strong contract with the raises we deserve!
In Solidarity,
Your Communication and Action Team (CAT)
Melinda Ciccocioppo
Teaching Associate Professor of Psychology
Oakland Campus
CAT Chair
Links!
- Bargaining will continue until the administration and our bargaining committee come to a Tentative Agreement (TA) on a full contract. This means that both sides’ representatives agree to the terms laid out in the contract. However, these terms will not go into effect unless our Union members vote to approve the contract.
- If you want to be able to vote on the TA, you will need to sign a Union membership card. Only Union members will be able to vote on whether or not the TA becomes our contract. There will likely be a short window of time during which we can vote. It is best to sign a membership card now rather than waiting until we reach a TA.
- You can find out more about membership and request to sign a card on our websiteor visit a membership card table. Here is where we’ll be this week: Cathedral of Learning, First Floor 10am-1:30pm, Tuesday August 22
Dear Colleagues,
We hope that you all had a good summer and were able to get at least a little bit of a break. We’ve been happily busy chatting with faculty members on campus, at coffee shops, and at their homes about Union membership. Our bargaining committee has been busy working towards a Tentative Agreement (TA) on our full contract. We know that this is likely a new term for many of you. We’re used to “TA” meaning something completely different! In this email we will explain what a TA is and what happens when we reach a final TA.
In short, a Tentative Agreement is a proposed agreement between the administration and our bargaining committee that has not yet been ratified by our Union members. You may have noticed that our bargaining committee has reported on TAs for specific contract articles already. You can find a list of these TAs along with progress on other contract articles on our status of bargaining table. The administration and our bargaining committee have both agreed to the language in those articles. However, none of the improvements or protections in those articles will go into effect until we have ratified our full contract. Our bargaining committee will continue to work to find common ground while protecting the interests of faculty until they have TAs on all of the contract articles necessary for a full contract. At that point, Union members will be given the opportunity to decide if they want this TA to become a legally enforceable document governing their working conditions.
Only Union members will be able to vote on the TA and there will likely be a fairly short time window in which to vote. We will want to lock in the protections and improvements from this TA as quickly as possible! We imagine that there will be a big push to sign membership cards during this window. We have a dedicated team of volunteers across all schools and campuses who have been helping faculty sign membership cards, but we all also have many other responsibilities. The best way to ensure that you are ready to vote once we get a TA is to sign a membership card now. If you don’t like the TA, you will want to be a member so that you can vote against it. If you do like it, you will want to be a member so that you can vote for it and be a part of the Union that made it possible. All Union members will start paying dues only after we ratify our contract regardless of when they signed a membership card. There really is no reason to wait.
We hope that you will consider signing your membership card this week before the craziness of the fall semester begins. As always, you can find out more about membership and request to sign a card on our website. You can also visit our membership card table on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning on August 22 from 10 AM-1:30 PM.
We voted overwhelmingly in support of forming a Union because we want the protections, transparency, and improvements of a legally binding, enforceable contract. It will take all of us working together to make this happen. We look forward to welcoming you to our Union and fighting alongside you for a strong contract with the raises we deserve!
In Solidarity,
Your Communication and Action Team (CAT)
Melinda Ciccocioppo
Teaching Associate Professor of Psychology
Oakland Campus
CAT Chair
Links!
- If someone forwarded this to you, sign up to receive these emails
- Find previous bargaining updates here
- Status of bargaining
- Get in touch with your Council rep
- Get involved with the Communication and Action Team
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