BARGAINING UPDATE:

There has been progress in some areas, obstacles in others. As of the most recent session on Sept. 18, here’s where the negotiations stand:

• We have a tentative agreement on how to resolve conflicts in the approval process for Faculty Activity Plans.
• We have a tentative agreement on language dealing with harassment, bullying, discrimination, etc.
• We are still bargaining to persuade the administration to reduce the unnecessary anxiety of Special Faculty about renewal of annual contracts
• On the salary issue, the UFE’s current proposal is for a 6.5% increase per year for the next two years (total of 13%). The administration proposal is currently for a 3.5% increase for ‘07 and 3.75% for ’08 (total of 7.25%).
  [PLEASE NOTE: The Union proposal for two years is below the raise given this summer to the president who has held office for only one year]

The administration’s negotiator, Rod Younker, has accused the Union of being “irresponsible” and of shirking faculty “responsibility in shared governance” by proposing no more than the administration’s stated goal for faculty salaries – the median faculty salary of EWU’s peer institutions.

Just the MEDIAN…that’s hardly a lofty goal, and the administration’s proposal is still a long way short of even that modest target.

Stay tuned…