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UFF Biweekly
United Faculty of Florida -- USF System Chapter
8 September 2016
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UFF USF Chapter President Art Shapiro on Television!

UFF USF Chapter President Art Shapiro will be on television next week. On Thursday, September 15, at 9 pm, he will be on the Florida This Week show on WEDU-TV. Check it out!

Chapter Meeting Tomorrow at USF St. Petersburg

The UFF USF Chapter will meet tomorrow, Friday, at 12 noon on USF St. Petersburg in USC 260 (the Coral Room). There will be sandwiches, snacks, sodas, and sweets. All faculty and professionals are invited to come and check us out. For newcomers to USF St. Petersburg, here is the regional map, a Google Map for going from USF Tampa to USF St. Petersburg and the University Student Center, and the USF St. Petersburg campus map: the University Student Center (USC) is on the southern side of 6th Avenue South.

This fall, we will meet on alternate Fridays. Some of our meetings will be at different locations so that people can more readily check us out. Our schedule is:

  • Tomorrow, September 9, at USF St. Petersburg in USC 260.
  • Friday, October 7, at a USF Tampa west campus room TBA.
  • Friday, November 4, at a USF Sarasota / Manatee room TBA.
  • Friday, December 2, details TBA.
  • The other chapter meetings will be on Friday noon on USF Tampa on September 23, October 21, and November 18 in EDU 257.
And the Bargaining Committee will count the ratification ballots on Friday, September 30, at noon, in EDU 257. Come see democracy in action!

Join UFF Today!

Download, fill in, and mail the membership form. Benefits of membership include the right to run and vote in UFF chapter and statewide elections; representation in grievances (UFF cannot represent a non-member in a grievance or litigation); special deals in insurance, travel, legal advice, and other packages provided by our affiliates; free insurance coverage for job-related liability; and the knowledge you are supporting education in Florida. Come and join the movement.

Grievances

If you have been the victim of a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, you have thirty days from the time you knew or should have known of the violation to file a grievance. If you are, and at the time of the violation were, a dues-paying member of the United Faculty of Florida, you have the right to union representation. To contact the UFF USF Grievance Committee, go to the online contact form. For more information, see our web-page on grievances; see also the main article (left).

Visit Us on Facebook

Visit the United Faculty of Florida at USF Facebook group page. This page is a place where UFF members can exchange thoughts and ideas. The page is "public", but only dues-paying UFF members are eligible to post items on the page. If you are a UFF member, ask to join on the group, or contact the Communications Committee. The Committee will invite every UFF member that asks to join. So check us out. UFF members are welcome to join, and non-members are welcome to look.

IN THIS ISSUE

A New Contract up for Ratification

As announced last month, the chief negotiators for the United Faculty of Florida (representing you) and the USF Administration (representing the USF Board of Trustees tentatively agreed to a new contract, called the Tentative Agreement. It is not a contract until both sides ratify it. For our part, the employees in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit vote for or against ratifying the Tentative Agreement; the decision is by majority vote. All 1,600+ faculty and professionals in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit - UFF members and non-members alike - will be covered by the new contract if ratified, and all are eligible and encouraged to vote on ratification. We strongly recommend voting IN FAVOR of ratification.

Here are the details:

  • Ratification. Once the in-unit employees and the Board of Trustees have ratified the Tentative Agreement, it will become our contract, officially the Collective Bargaining Agreement. For more on the ratification process, see below or click here.
  • About the Tentative Agreement. If ratified, the Tentative Agreement provides for three cycles of pay raises as well as other items. For more, see below or click here.
  • Questions and Answers on the Tentative Agreement. For some questions and answers, see below or click here.
Ratification packets will go into the mail this weekend, to home addresses of employees in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit. They are in 9" x 11" white envelopes from the United Faculty of Florida, so please watch for them. Please review ratification materials (which are also posted at the UFF USF website) and vote. All ballots must be RECEIVED by September 29.

If you have not received your ballot packet by September 18, contact the Chapter Secretary.

Ratification Vote will be by Mail to Home Addresses

The Chief Negotiator for the United Faculty of Florida (representing USF faculty and professionals in the Bargaining Unit) and the Chief Negotiator for the USF Administration (representing the Board of Trustees) have tentatively agreed to a new contract, a 2016 - 2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In order to come into force, this contract must be ratified by both the employees in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit (all employees, both UFF members and non-members, as the contract covers all employees) and by the USF Board of Trustees. All in-unit employees, UFF members and non-members alike, are eligible to vote.

  • The UFF will mail ballot packets to the home addresses of all UFF USF employees. All UFF USF employees are strongly encouraged to vote on whether to ratify the new contract. The UFF USF Chapter President, our Chief Negotiator and Bargaining Team, and the UFF USF Executive Committee strongly recommend voting in favor of ratification.
  • If the UFF USF employees vote in favor of ratification, the contract will be presented to the USF Board of Trustees. If the Board votes in favor of ratification, the contract will come into force.
Ballots will be counted at a special meeting on Friday, September 30, on USF Tampa, at 12 noon, in EDU 257. All UFF USF employees are invited: come watch democracy in action! The results will be announced that afternoon.

About the New Contract

If ratified, our new Collective Bargaining Agreement will have the following provisions.

  • Salary:
    • 2016-17 increases: 3 % pool established and distributed at the departmental level based on evaluations.
    • 2017-18 increase 2 % pool established and distributed at the departmental level based on evaluations.
    • 2018-2019 increase: 2 % pool established and distributed at the departmental level based on evaluations.
    • In addition, the CBA includes 1 % discretionary authority for salary adjustments in each year of the contract for a total of 3 % discretionary authority over 3 years.
    • The percentage raise for the instructor promotional track was increased from 6 % to 9 %.
    The 2017-18 and 2018-19 increases, including discretionary increases, are contingent on no reduction in Performance Based Funding ("PBF") based on August 1, 2016 PBF levels. Increases for tenure and promotion are excluded from the contingency.
  • Other highlights:
    • Instructors II and III and Associate and University Librarians may be offered continuing 3 year multi-year appointments.
    • The CBA empowers each college to increase the probationary period for its tenure earning faculty up to 8 years, but with a minimum of 6 years. College guidelines will determine the length of the probationary period.
    • Any proposed changes in the appointment terms (i.e., offer letter) of an employee must be agreed to in writing by an employee except an increase in salary rate or promotion to a higher rank.
For details, see:

Questions and Answers on the Tentative Agreement

Q. IF THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT IS RATIFIED, WHEN WILL FACULTY AND PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES RECEIVE RAISES?

A. The tentative agreement requires that the 2016 (3 % merit) raises be implemented within six weeks of the Trustees' ratification of the Tentative Agreement, and the trustees must decide within three weeks of the conclusion of this election. That means no later than December.

Q. IF THE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT IS NOT RATIFIED, WHAT HAPPENS?

A. If the bargaining unit fails to ratify the Tentative Agreement, the two bargaining teams return to the bargaining process.

Q. HOW CAN I GET ANSWERS TO OTHER QUESTIONS I HAVE?

A. Contact Chapter President Arthur Shapiro or Chief Negotiator Robert Welker.

A Reminder: UFF USF Chapter President Art Shapiro to be on Television Next Week

UFF USF Chapter President Art Shapiro will be on television next week. On Thursday, September 15, at 9 pm, he will be on the Florida This Week show on WEDU-TV. Check it out!

LOGISTICS

Chapter Meeting tomorrow Friday, September 9, on USF St. Petersburg, in USC 260.

There will be sandwiches, snacks, sweets, and drinks. All UFF members are invited to attend. Non-members are also invited to come and check us out. Come and join the movement.

Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out and send in the membership form.

NOTE: The USF-UFF Chapter website is http://www.uff.ourusf.org, and our e-mail address is uff@ourusf.org.

About this broadcast: This Newsletter was broadcast from uff.ourusf.org, hosted at ICDsoft.com, and is intended for all members of the UFF USF Bargaining unit (USF faculty and professionals at most departments). A (usually identical) version will be broadcast to USF-News and USF-Talk from mccolm@usf.edu.

If you do not want to receive the UFF Biweekly, you can unsubscribe below. If you do not receive the Biweekly, but want to, e-mail a message to gmccolm@tampabay.rr.com.