This section features questions from FGCU faculty and answers from UFF-FGCU leaders.

QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPASSE

Q:  What's going on with impasse now at FGCU? 

A:  Read updates in the Collective Bargaining section. 

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Q: Is FGCU the only Florida university where the union has declared impasse?

A:  No, other Florida state universities declared impasse in the past year (FAU, UWF, UF and Broward College) and this year (UCF).  Impasse allows both sides to be heard by an independent mediator - a special magistrate - to try to remove roadblocks to a collective bargaining agreement.  Take a moment to read the Public Employees Relations Committee's Impasse Division's list of Frequently Asked Questions. 

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Q: If a special magistrate decides in favor of the union, does that mean UFF gets everything it has bargained for?

A: No, the special magistrate may make a recommendation to the administration, which may or may not accept the special magistrate's ruling.  The Board of Trustees then decides whether or not to accept the special magistrate's ruling.  The administration/BOT are not bound by the ruling of the special magistrate.

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Q: What do faculty gain, then, by declaring impasse?

A:  Impasse draws attention to the current relationship between the administration and faculty union, specifically with respect to their ability to discuss and negotiate improvements in terms and conditions of employment.  The special magistrate's hearing will reveal where the strengths and weaknesses in the process lie. Also, the union may gain the right to bargain two new waivers (Article 31.2  - called the "zipper clause" - and starting salaries) in the contract. 

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Q: What can faculty do about the state of negotiations?

A: There are many things you can do.  Send your requests to Maddy Isaacs (misaacs@fgcu.edu).

1. Come to chapter meetings where the most open and detailed discussions take place (dates posted on front page of the web site).  If you don't see one posted, it's probably because a chapter meeting was recently held.  E-mail Maddy to schedule a special information session. 

2. The union bargains with the Board of Trustees through the administration.  Come to the next Board of Trustees meeting on April 20 at 10:15.  Wear your UFF shirt if you're a member and want the board to know faculty are listening.  This upcoming meeting is especially important because the results of the climate survey will be announced.

3. Help find solutions, whether you are a member or not.  The union has a suite of issues including salary (inversion-compression), benefits (same sex partner), workloads (compensation for "free work" like internship supervision, senior research and independent study advising, etc.) that get addressed through bargaining.  We need help organizing an Open Forum on faculty workload issues in the fall.  You can help tremendously by picking an issue that concerns you, then helping to research and craft proposals that will inform negotiations.  UFF leadership can help identify others who share your interests, and facilitate your project work.  Your participation will be clearly defined, short-term and project-based. 

4. Become a member of UFF.  The union is a membership organization, not a service organization.  It gets its strength from the size of its membership, which translates to a stronger voice at the bargaining table.  Here is how Maddy Isaacs describes the relationship between membership and contract strength: "When I look at proportion of members and the quality of contracts around the state at both Universities and community/state colleges, there is a clear correlation between the proportion of faculty who support the union with their pocketbooks as well as their rhetoric and the quality of contract provisions.  FIU has been a shining example.  This happened over a period of a couple of years and they do not have everything they want but they have more than we have in many areas. "

5. Attend the impasse hearing, date TBA. 

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT UFF-FGCU

Q:  What does our faculty  union do and how does it work? 

A:  Get the answer in this 7-minute video by UFF-FGCU's President Madelyn Isaacs.

QUESTIONS ABOUT SALARIES

Q:  I’ve observed in my college that new faculty receive starting salaries up to $30,000 dollars higher than faculty at the same rank who have been here since FGCU was founded.  Is there anything the union can do to raise the pay of employees who have contributed to the growth and mission of the university and deserve to be compensated for their hard work?

A: Yes, we agree that compression and inversion are serious problems here at FGCU. We hear from our colleagues that this is a problem, and in addition, we experience it ourselves!  The way we work for change is through collective bargaining, our legal method to address issues of salaries, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. 

Progress report:

· We bring up the issue or inversion-compression at the bargaining table every year.  After much discussion, we were able to get a provision in the 2007-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to design and implement a study of compression/inversion (CBA 23.8).

·   In fall 2008, we formed a committee with faculty from each of the colleges/units and representatives of administration to conduct this study.  We spent many sessions and months developing the process and analyzing the data with the help of a faculty statistician.

· Though the official study was not completed due to time and technical difficulties, we used the data to write a proposal that would address salaries which are compressed and inverted.  We presented this proposal to the administration during bargaining in spring 2009.  Bargaining is still on-going because we have not been able to reach an agreement with administration on this.

What can you do?

If you haven’t already joined the union, please consider it.  A union that represents more than half of the faculty carries more weight to the bargaining table than one that represents a smaller fraction.

If you are a member, help us recruit new members by talking to your colleagues.  Tell them we need their support.

QUESTIONS ABOUT LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

Q:  What is the problem with merit pay or value added pay applied to teachers in the public sector?