Good afternoon. I am thrilled to state that today’s report is relatively short. As you know, we are in the process of full book negotiations. Per the Florida State Constitution, all 38 articles and 15 appendices reopened for negotiation during full book. The faculty (UFF-UNF) and the trustees (the BOT team) must negotiate and ratify all articles and appendices before the conditions negotiated—including wages—can be implemented. In great news, both sides have made substantial progress in the past month. As of Tuesday, by UFF’s count, both sides have now agreed upon twenty-three articles and ten appendices (62.26% of the contract). Both teams have explicitly stated that we are getting close to agreement on several remaining articles and would like to close the book in the next month. Of note, since August, whenever the BOT team has provided a wage proposal, UFF-UNF immediately crafts and presents a response in the same session. 

Thanks to the faculty who reached out to the BOT, President, and Provost regarding Article 30, Salary. Also, thank you to the faculty who attended yesterday’s bargaining session. This outreach is critical, and we are happy to report that your advocacy has helped. The BOT team made a salary proposal at yesterday’s session that included retroactivity, BUT this proposal included a very short time band on negotiations. The time band on negotiations is surprising given that since May, your UFF-UNF bargaining team has consistently been turning articles around in record time (sometimes in the same session) to illustrate that we want to close the book as quickly as possible. The same commitment to resolution has not been shown by the BOT team until yesterday’s session, so their 3-week ultimatum is troubling as it puts fair and timely faculty wages at risk. Although UFF-UNF welcomes the change in tone in retroactivity and the pace of negotiations by the BOT team, UFF-UNF countered the salary proposal without a time band. The time band is unnecessary, given our steadfast commitment to completing the full book as soon as possible for both the faculty and the university. Our four-person team (who also have a great deal of other teaching, research, and service responsibilities) works overtime, nights, and weekends to accomplish this goal and will continue to do so until this is resolved. 

The BOT team’s salary proposal also included new language about reductions in raises based on FTE status. If you have been tuning into bargaining or watching the bargaining videos (located on our website), you have seen that the BOT team proposals from Tallahassee have been highly aggressive and not faculty friendly. The faculty team will continue to work toward speedy settlement while protecting faculty rights, which have been challenged again and again by extreme positions during this full book session. In a spot of good news, both sides’ proposals have included a $1,000 bonus and an outside firm to examine compression and inversion.

The BOT team also emphasized in the session yesterday their adamant desire when faculty are going up for tenure and promotion for Chairs to be able to pick external reviewers outside the faculty member’s list. UFF-UNF is highly concerned about this emphasis because faculty already provide lists of possible external reviewers to their chair, who then submits the list to the dean. Thus, Chairs and Deans already have significant oversight on these lists. We are concerned about what this could mean for faculty, especially those who engage in marginalized scholarship or are unpopular or outspoken. We have also heard from chairs who are upset and concerned about the BOT team’s proposal.

On a non-bargaining note, UFF-UNF encourages all who are eligible to register and plan to vote. The registration deadline is on Tuesday, October 11th. Also, please remind your students to vote if they are eligible. Check your voter registration status periodically, as it can change. 

Lastly, if you need assistance with a work-related matter and are a union member, please don’t hesitate to reach out. If you would like to join the majority of faculty as a member of UFF-UNF and need a form, or if you have a general question, please email me.