A big union welcome to the members of the Macomb Community College Faculty Organization who recently voted to affiliate with AFT. 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News From AFT Michigan
Thursday, April 27, 2012
Contact: David Hecker, (313) 204-6115, dhecker@aftmichigan.org

Macomb Community College Faculty Organization Affiliates with the American Federation of Teachers

DETROIT - The 230-member Macomb Community College Faculty Organization (MCCFO) has voted to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. MCCFO represents tenure-track and tenured faculty at the College, which is one of the largest degree-granters in the state.

"MCCFO is a strong and effective union," stated local union president Dawn Roberts. "But with the mounting attacks on unions and public K-16 education, it is imperative that we affiliate with the larger labor movement in order to remain viable and effective. AFT brings broad experience, effective representation, and technical expertise that will be of great benefit to our members."

AFT Michigan President David Hecker said that MCCFO affiliation will also strengthen the AFT state federation. "With strong local leadership, an involved membership, and a commitment to organized labor and public K-16 education, MCCFO adds a great deal to AFT Michigan."

AFT Michigan is the state's largest higher education union, representing 15,000 faculty and staff members at colleges and universities across the state.

The University of Oregon and United Academics at UO have reached an agreement on the composition of the bargaining unit that will pave the way for United Academics - a group jointly affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors - to be certified as the collective bargaining agent for tenure-track faculty, non-tenure track faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and research faculty. Significantly, they will be part of one bargaining unit (the UO dropped their demand that tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty be in different units). Press release follows:

United Academics is pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with the UO administration that will lead to certification of our union. This means that in a matter of days our faculty union, composed of tenure-related faculty, non-tenure-track faculty, adjunct instructors, and officers of research, will be officially certified by the State of Oregon Employment Relations Board.

This agreement and subsequent certification pave the way for UO tenure-related and non-tenure-track faculty - working together - to have a more substantive voice in refocusing our university on the core mission of teaching and research. We now have the official means to negotiate and collectively bargain for better working conditions, transparency, and accountability. Among the many Research I universities in the western US, our union will be the largest integrated bargaining unit - a significant achievement in an era where education is continually under threat.

A clear majority of UO faculty in all three classifications - tenure-related, non-tenure-track, and officers of research - signed union authorization cards. We are excited about continuing our efforts to build a strong, inclusive and dynamic organization. Faculty members on the Organizing Committee appreciate the UO administration's good faith effort to reach this agreement, avoid unnecessary delays, and move forward to our first negotiations.

For further information or clarification, please contact United Academics at (541) 636 4714 or email us at info@uauoregon.org.

If Congress does not take action before July 1, the interest rate for subsidized federal student loans will double. This could saddle low- and middle-income college students with even more student loan debt at a time when student debt is surpassing $1 trillion and acting as a drag on our economic recovery.

Next week, President Obama will be giving three speeches about student debt and higher education in an effort to push Congress to act on this important program that helps many students pay for their college education. Speeches will not be enough, and this is where you come in - you and/or your local union can help sponsor watch parties of one of the President's speeches, and then participants can urge members of Congress to extend the current reduced interest loan rate for federal student loans. USPIRG has put together a great toolkit for you to organize a watch party for 5-15 people and move those people into action. The times for President Obama's speeches are as follows:

• Tuesday April 24^th 12:45 pm EST at University of North Carolina
• Tuesday April 24^th 8:00 pm EST at the University of Colorado, Boulder
• Wednesday April 25^th 1:50 pm EST at the University of Iowa

If you do host a watch party, be sure to let us know! There is a Google document link in the toolkit in the website to register your event, and send us pictures of the folks who participate! This is a fight we can win, and now is the time to act!

Nearly 600 graduate employees at Montana State University in Bozeman have voted 195 to 67 to be represented by the Graduate Employees Organization as their collective bargaining agent. GEO is affiliated with the MEA-MFT.

The graduate employees unit, which includes graduate teaching and research assistants, has been working to get a voice at the university for two years. The battle was a tough one because the university maintained that the assistants were students, not employees.

GEO filed a unit recognition petition with the Montana Board of Personnel Appeals in December 2010. In January 2011, the university filed a counterpetition, claiming the assistants were not employees and their stipends were not wages. In July, the board ruled that the assistants were indeed employees. The university appealed again. Finally, the board allowed the election to go forward this month, and votes were counted April 9.

For the grad employees, the issues were both bread-and-butter and qualitative. They need health insurance, working conditions that are predictable and consistent across departments, and especially for those with families, a living wage.

Graduate assistants told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle of wide variations in compensation.

Zach Adam, a graduate student in earth science and member of the union's informal steering committee, said, "Working conditions vary significantly from department to department." Some departments cover their grad students' health insurance and others do not, he said. Some pay stipends of $1,100 a month, some pay twice that, and some pay nothing. Graduate students can be expected to do 55 to 60 hours of work a week, he said, adding, "It's not fair."

A union, says Dave Firmage, a master's degree student in earth science, should strengthen MSU's "ability to continue to attract high-quality graduate students."

Firmage told the Chronicle that he heard what sparked the organizing campaign was that a few graduate students went to ask about getting health coverage, and a dean told them, "‘You'd have to unionize to get that.'"

Game on!

It is not yet clear if the university will appeal the vote again. If it does, however, "we will prevail," says Eric Feaver, MEA-MFT president and an AFT vice president.

Yesterday, clear majorities of tenure track, non-tenure track, and research faculty at the University of Oregon filed union authorization cards with the state Employment Relations Board. Once the ERB formally confirms that the filed cards represent a majority of faculty at the University, the United Academics at the University of Oregon - who are affiliated with both the AFT and AAUP - will be certified as the collective bargaining agent. On a personal note, your humble author is an alumni and former graduate employee unionist at the University of Oregon, and I could not be prouder of the courage and hard work of my mentors, colleagues, and friends in Eugene in taking this step.

Press release follows:

Contact:     Yonna Carroll                                                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone: (541) 636-4714 or (206)499-9050                                March 14, 2012 Email: ycarroll@aft.org

University of Oregon Faculty File Cards with Majority Support for New Union

Faculty members at the University of Oregon have moved one step closer to forming a union.  Yesterday, union authorization cards signed by a clear majority of faculty were filed with the state Employment Relations Board (ERB). 

The United Academics of the University of Oregon seeks to restore the voice of faculty in the university's educational and research priorities. "We look forward to a cooperative and productive relationship with the University administration, based on a collaborative approach to meeting the needs of our students," said Michael Dreiling, Associate Professor of Sociology.

"Enrollment at the UO has grown by 4,000 students during the last five years, but support for instruction has not kept pace, resulting in dramatic increases in class sizes," said Deborah Olson, Instructor of Special Education. "One goal of our new union will be to restore budgetary alignment with the university's core missions of teaching, research, and service to the state of Oregon," said Karen McPherson, Associate Professor of Romance Languages.

The United Academics of the University of Oregon includes tenure-track, non-tenure-track, and research faculty.  In addition to a solid overall majority of UO faculty, the union authorization cards presented to the state ERB yesterday include majorities in all three classifications of faculty represented. "We are joining together as colleagues to help make our great university even better," said Tina Boscha, Instructor of Composition.

Faculty members who signed authorization cards have selected affiliation with both the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers. The union will be formally certified once the ERB confirms that the signed cards represent a majority of the UO faculty.

"United Academics is working to strengthen the quality of education and research at the University because faculty working conditions are UO students' learning conditions," said Scott Pratt, Professor of Philosophy.