How would the university be better with a union?
Faculty members at Pitt often ask, “How would things be improved with a union?” It’s an important question. While it’s impossible to predict exactly what will come out of our negotiations with the administration, an examination of what faculty unions have achieved at our peer institutions can provide some guidance. In areas ranging from pay and job security for NTS faculty to issues of transparency and faculty governance, unions have had a positive impact on the lives of professors across the United States. By standing together, we can all achieve more.
Comparison Class
Pitt’s faculty are by no means alone in seeking a union. Among Pitt’s peer universities (public AAU institutions) there are faculty unions at the following:
*We’ve focused primarily on the five schools indicated with an asterisk, because, like the union at Pitt, these schools have a single union that represents all ranks of faculty. We also include some information about the contract that faculty have negotiated in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, because of its proximity to Pitt and because the union there also represents all ranks of faculty.
Pay
Faculty unions at comparable universities have been able to negotiate across-the-board pay increases for all faculty members, in addition to merit increases. These raises range from a 1.5% increase allocated during the first year of a contract (at the University of Florida) to a 4.25% raise allocated over the course of a three-year contract (at Rutgers University). Several faculty unions have achieved minimum pay raises in the range of 9-10% for all promotions. Many contracts have also clarified the criteria for merit-based pay increases, and the contract negotiated by faculty at the University of Oregon mandates that a certain amount of money be dedicated to merit raises for NTS faculty, as well as TTS faculty. The University of Oregon faculty have also created a minimum salary floor for all career NTS faculty, as well as contract language that requires that pay increases be made proportionally to workload increases. None of the comparison school CBAs include language that prohibits the administration from giving raises above the minimum they set forth, while both Rutgers and the University of Florida’s CBAs include wording that explicitly ensures the schools’ ability to provide raises in recognition of outstanding achievement or in response to outside offers.
Job Security
Faculty unions at Rutgers University and SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook have successfully negotiated longer appointments for NTS faculty; even part-time and contingent faculty now have minimum one-year contracts. Faculty at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook have also collaborated on contract language that requires the university to make reasonable efforts to replace cancelled courses with equivalent work in the form of advising, assessment, or curriculum development. The University of Oregon contract has improved job security by specifying circumstances in which appointments may be terminated, requiring the university to provide precise reasoning for any contract that is not renewed, and creating protections for contingent faculty with seniority in layoff situations.
Benefits
At Buffalo and Stony Brook, part-time faculty that teach two or more courses are eligible for health benefits, and retirees are entitled to a continued health care plan. At the University of Florida and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, full-time faculty members receive a total waiver of university tuition for a designated number of credits. The contract also extends this benefit to domestic partners and children of faculty members. For sick leave, both full-time and part-time employees at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook and the University of Florida are permitted to accrue sick days based on years of service.
Academic Freedom
The contracts at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook, the University of Oregon, and the University of Florida protect faculty freedom in their instruction, research, and publication. At Florida, the contract explicitly acknowledges the faculty’s right to present controversial material relevant to their courses. It also undertakes to protect academic independence from attempts to restrict it by forces both within and outside the University.
Workload/Administrative Overload
At Rutgers, the union contract gives faculty the right to file grievances if their workload exceeds university or departmental standards. Faculty at the University of Oregon have developed written policies for the assignment of professional responsibilities, stipends, and academic support resources, with provisions for such factors as new course preparation, administrative duties, and deadlines for publication and grant applications. Under the contract at the University of Florida, no faculty member is required to take overload courses, and those instructors who agree to do so receive financial compensation or a teaching reduction the following semester or academic year. The contract also sets a fixed payment system for the additional courses taught.
Governance
Nearly all comparable universities have negotiated contract language that increases shared governance at the department level. At the University of Oregon and the University of Florida, this language stipulates that faculty in each department within the university shall be allowed to write their own policy or bylaws with regards to faculty responsibilities within that department. Contract language at the University of Florida specifies that bylaws shall be established for clarification of criteria for tenure, promotion, salary increases, and performance evaluations. The Rutgers contract further expands enfranchisement in shared governance by allowing NTT faculty to participate in the development of department governance.
Promotion
Union contracts at Rutgers and the University of Oregon create promotion pathways for career NTS faculty. At the University of Oregon, this means that NTS faculty who have accumulated the equivalent of six years of full-time employment are made eligible for advancement. Union contracts at PA State System of Higher Education, SUNY Buffalo, and Stony Brook have created review committees that are elected by and from the faculty. The University of Oregon’s contract also stipulates that all performance evaluations for NTS faculty must include a raise review.
Sexual Harassment and Discrimination
Union contracts at Rutgers and the University of Florida also include specific language protecting faculty against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, falling on the autism spectrum, refusal to submit to genetic testing, political opinions, or membership or non-membership in the union. This provides an additional avenue (above and beyond legal remedies) to pursue such matters, with the union as an advocate at no cost. In the University of Oregon’s contract, sexual harassment is declared as a form of unlawful discrimination, and the contract sets forth robust and transparent mechanisms for reporting and handling incidents.
Working Conditions
“Reasonable access to facilities,” including office space, access to printers and copiers, university phone and email, is typically part of a union contract. At the University of Oregon, faculty negotiated specific timelines for provision of these resources: access to their university email address, web account, and ID at least fifteen days before the start of the term, as well as the ability to continue using their university email address, web account, and course shells for at least two terms after the end of their employment.
Research and Professional Development Support
All comparison class CBAs include provisions to provide sabbatical leave for tenured faculty. At Rutgers, such leaves are covered at a rate of either 80% or 100% of faculty pay. At the University of Oregon, NTS faculty, including those working at least .50 FTE are also eligible for sabbaticals. University of Oregon NTS faculty are also entitled to professional development funds.
Comparison Class
Pitt’s faculty are by no means alone in seeking a union. Among Pitt’s peer universities (public AAU institutions) there are faculty unions at the following:
- Michigan State University
- Rutgers University New Brunswick*
- Stony Brook University (SUNY)*
- University at Buffalo (SUNY)*
- University of California Berkeley
- University of California Davis
- University of California Irvine
- University of California Los Angeles
- University of California San Diego
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of Florida*
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Michigan Ann Arbor
- University of Oregon*
*We’ve focused primarily on the five schools indicated with an asterisk, because, like the union at Pitt, these schools have a single union that represents all ranks of faculty. We also include some information about the contract that faculty have negotiated in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, because of its proximity to Pitt and because the union there also represents all ranks of faculty.
Pay
Faculty unions at comparable universities have been able to negotiate across-the-board pay increases for all faculty members, in addition to merit increases. These raises range from a 1.5% increase allocated during the first year of a contract (at the University of Florida) to a 4.25% raise allocated over the course of a three-year contract (at Rutgers University). Several faculty unions have achieved minimum pay raises in the range of 9-10% for all promotions. Many contracts have also clarified the criteria for merit-based pay increases, and the contract negotiated by faculty at the University of Oregon mandates that a certain amount of money be dedicated to merit raises for NTS faculty, as well as TTS faculty. The University of Oregon faculty have also created a minimum salary floor for all career NTS faculty, as well as contract language that requires that pay increases be made proportionally to workload increases. None of the comparison school CBAs include language that prohibits the administration from giving raises above the minimum they set forth, while both Rutgers and the University of Florida’s CBAs include wording that explicitly ensures the schools’ ability to provide raises in recognition of outstanding achievement or in response to outside offers.
Job Security
Faculty unions at Rutgers University and SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook have successfully negotiated longer appointments for NTS faculty; even part-time and contingent faculty now have minimum one-year contracts. Faculty at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook have also collaborated on contract language that requires the university to make reasonable efforts to replace cancelled courses with equivalent work in the form of advising, assessment, or curriculum development. The University of Oregon contract has improved job security by specifying circumstances in which appointments may be terminated, requiring the university to provide precise reasoning for any contract that is not renewed, and creating protections for contingent faculty with seniority in layoff situations.
Benefits
At Buffalo and Stony Brook, part-time faculty that teach two or more courses are eligible for health benefits, and retirees are entitled to a continued health care plan. At the University of Florida and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, full-time faculty members receive a total waiver of university tuition for a designated number of credits. The contract also extends this benefit to domestic partners and children of faculty members. For sick leave, both full-time and part-time employees at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook and the University of Florida are permitted to accrue sick days based on years of service.
Academic Freedom
The contracts at SUNY Buffalo and Stony Brook, the University of Oregon, and the University of Florida protect faculty freedom in their instruction, research, and publication. At Florida, the contract explicitly acknowledges the faculty’s right to present controversial material relevant to their courses. It also undertakes to protect academic independence from attempts to restrict it by forces both within and outside the University.
Workload/Administrative Overload
At Rutgers, the union contract gives faculty the right to file grievances if their workload exceeds university or departmental standards. Faculty at the University of Oregon have developed written policies for the assignment of professional responsibilities, stipends, and academic support resources, with provisions for such factors as new course preparation, administrative duties, and deadlines for publication and grant applications. Under the contract at the University of Florida, no faculty member is required to take overload courses, and those instructors who agree to do so receive financial compensation or a teaching reduction the following semester or academic year. The contract also sets a fixed payment system for the additional courses taught.
Governance
Nearly all comparable universities have negotiated contract language that increases shared governance at the department level. At the University of Oregon and the University of Florida, this language stipulates that faculty in each department within the university shall be allowed to write their own policy or bylaws with regards to faculty responsibilities within that department. Contract language at the University of Florida specifies that bylaws shall be established for clarification of criteria for tenure, promotion, salary increases, and performance evaluations. The Rutgers contract further expands enfranchisement in shared governance by allowing NTT faculty to participate in the development of department governance.
Promotion
Union contracts at Rutgers and the University of Oregon create promotion pathways for career NTS faculty. At the University of Oregon, this means that NTS faculty who have accumulated the equivalent of six years of full-time employment are made eligible for advancement. Union contracts at PA State System of Higher Education, SUNY Buffalo, and Stony Brook have created review committees that are elected by and from the faculty. The University of Oregon’s contract also stipulates that all performance evaluations for NTS faculty must include a raise review.
Sexual Harassment and Discrimination
Union contracts at Rutgers and the University of Florida also include specific language protecting faculty against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression, falling on the autism spectrum, refusal to submit to genetic testing, political opinions, or membership or non-membership in the union. This provides an additional avenue (above and beyond legal remedies) to pursue such matters, with the union as an advocate at no cost. In the University of Oregon’s contract, sexual harassment is declared as a form of unlawful discrimination, and the contract sets forth robust and transparent mechanisms for reporting and handling incidents.
Working Conditions
“Reasonable access to facilities,” including office space, access to printers and copiers, university phone and email, is typically part of a union contract. At the University of Oregon, faculty negotiated specific timelines for provision of these resources: access to their university email address, web account, and ID at least fifteen days before the start of the term, as well as the ability to continue using their university email address, web account, and course shells for at least two terms after the end of their employment.
Research and Professional Development Support
All comparison class CBAs include provisions to provide sabbatical leave for tenured faculty. At Rutgers, such leaves are covered at a rate of either 80% or 100% of faculty pay. At the University of Oregon, NTS faculty, including those working at least .50 FTE are also eligible for sabbaticals. University of Oregon NTS faculty are also entitled to professional development funds.
