Contract Administration Issues: Implementation of Pay Increases For AY 2006-07

The contract calls for 2.0% increases across-the-board (ATB), 2.5% merit pools by department, a 0.5% amount set aside for "market adjustment," with all raises contingent on a "satisfactory" merit ranking.  This linkage between all raises and merit makes the approval of merit guidelines critical to the implementation of the total compensation package for 2006-07.

Akron-AAUP, through departmental visits, workshops, flyers, and electronic postings to the website, worked hard to advise faculty on their respective departmental drafts of merit pay guidelines in the Spring 2006 semester. These documents were to be voted on in departments, submitted to department chairs, then deans for approval, and finally to the provost's office for finalization.

As of late August, most departments have had their guidelines approved at the department, chair, and dean level, many since May. But these guidelines have stalled at the provost’s level.

The administration's position is that it was not able to fulfill its commitment to implement pay increases in time for the first pay period in July 2006 for 12 month faculty, and will likely be unable to implement pay increases in time for the first pay period in September for 9 month faculty. Despite negotiating hard for the process currently underway, they maintain that implementation is too great a task to be accomplished in the time frame that was negotiated.  

Akron-AAUP filed a grievance on behalf of the12 month bargaining unit faculty on August 17th, 2006 with the Office of Labor and Employee Relations.  In the grievance, Akron-AAUP offers as the remedy that the University shall pay interest on the salary increases from the date of the first paycheck for the 2006-2007 academic year until the salary increases are actually implemented and paid.

We hope this will help motivate the administration to implement the negotiated raises in a more timely manner.

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Grievance Over Chair Review Committee Recommendation Resolved

 On May 23, 2006 Akron-AAUP filed a grievance against the Administration regarding its rejection of chair review guidelines. On May 4, 2006, an administrative memo was circulated to several department chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. The memo bore the subject line "Revisions to Department Chair Guidelines." We believe that this memo, which prohibited a chair review committee from making a recommendation with respect to the performance and reappointment of the chair, violated Article 10 (Governance), Sections 5A(3) and 5A(4) of the contract. As a result, Akron-AAUP filed a grievance seeking that the memo be withdrawn, that the contract be obeyed, and that approval of chair review guidelines not be withheld for the reasons identified in the grievance. On May 31, this grievance was successfully resolved as the Administration agreed with the Akron-AAUP's position that the chair review committee can indeed make a recommendation as to whether the chair should be retained or not, based upon its review of faculty evaluations.

If your department has already approved chair review guidelines that acquiesced to imposed limits on the chair review committee, you can now revisit those guidelines and allow that review committee its proper and full role in the process. 

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Variable Weights For Probationary Faculty

As departments were writing their merit guidelines last spring, the Provost announced in March that probationary faculty (tenure-track, not instructors) could not choose variable weights for teaching, research, and service as could tenured faculty. Many departments objected to this, arguing that in their discipline variable weights were necessary to accommodate the varying responsibilities of probationary faculty. Akron-AAUP filed a grievance over this issue, and has since been negotiating a compromise with the administration. We are very close to agreement, which will be announced as soon as finalized.

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New Committee For Non-Tenure Track faculty

Akron-AAUP is forming a new committee to address the specific issues concerning Instructors and Lecturers. We represent 649 bargaining unit faculty, 59 of whom are in non-tenure track positions. We invite members holding such positions to contact John Reeves if they are interested in either being on this committee or merely relaying concerns to the Executive Committee.

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Fair Share Implementation and Membership Dues

In March the University of Akron faculty voted by an overwhelming majority (70%) in favor of "fair share," which requires that all faculty contribute toward the collective bargaining services provided by the chapter. Starting with the September 2006 paycheck, fair share fees will be automatically deducted for all bargaining unit faculty, and union members may also authorize payment of their dues by automatic payroll deduction. If you would prefer to conceal your membership from the administration, you may pledge a one time October payment of the difference between fair share fees and your dues. If you have not done so already, you may join now by submitting the Membership & Dues Election form indicating your desire to join and authorizing one of these payment methods.

Membership dues are 0.75% of 9-month salary; fair share fees, on an average salary, are about 0.5% (estimate your fair share fee here. Since the difference between fair share fees and full union dues is only about 0.2%, or about $14 a month for an average salary of $65,000, it is important to consider what that additional $14 gets you. Full membership in Akron-AAUP includes the right to vote in chapter elections and other union matters such as contract ratification. As a union member, you will have the opportunity to serve on committees, run for office, and be on the next negotiation team, thereby directly participating in decisions that affect your future at UA. We hope that you will choose to pay a few dollars more per month and become a full member of the Akron-AAUP. Ultimately, our chapter is only as strong as its support through membership and democratic participation.

Please direct any question regarding Akron-AAUP dues to Russ Davis, Akron-AAUP Treasurer at rdavis@uakron.edu or 330.972.7391

 Akron-AAUP
Communications Committee

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