Bargaining sessions on June 10 & 11 included “positive” discussions

The Faculty and Administration bargaining teams had a short meeting on June 10, and a 2-hour session on June 11.

In addition, the Faculty team spent several hours in planning meetings, with faculty colleagues providing food and beverages for these work sessions.

Faculty team members said the tone of negotiation sessions continues to be positive. Julie McLaughlin said, “So far, these are the most collaborative AAUP contract negotiations I’ve ever been part of.”

Pam Ecker said the teams have had “open and candid” discussions about possible solutions to several problems identified by one or both teams. “We’re trying to focus on mutually-agreed on solutions as much as is possible.”

The teams agreed on the ground rules for bargaining, and have started to narrow down the list of contract articles that will need more in-depth discussion as bargaining continues.

The Faculty team presented proposals for adding contract language where it’s necessary to acknowledge new Board of Trustees policies related to Senate Bill 1.

The Administration team presented several ideas for small changes that could “streamline” some contractual processes.

“Most of their suggestions were updates to contract language that might create smoother ways of carrying out some processes,” Caleb Ochs-Naderer said. “The Faculty team will review all of the ideas carefully before we bring our responses to future bargaining sessions.”

Because of prior commitments that affect both teams, no bargaining is scheduled for the week of June 15. The next scheduled bargaining session is Monday, June 22.

Faculty members with questions about negotiations should contact AAUP Chapter President Abbey Yee.