In mathematical dynamics, there can be places where a small change now can lead to major changes down the road. A river branches as it flows into its delta; one branch flowing into a tangle of swampy streams inhabited by leeches and mosquitos; the other down a wide stream into the sea. Geographers call this river fork a bifurcation, and appropriately enough, that's what the mathematical dynamics people call it.
There is a theory that a crisis (which then-Senator John F. Kennedy ascribed to danger + opportunity) is a historical bifurcation. If so, we facing a bifurcation now: at USF, the pandemic and the consolidation have made clear many inequities, weaknesses in our infrastructure, and disorders in our governance.
There will always be school of thought that we're in a crisis now; this is not the time for engineering. But the time to determine which river branch to take is during the bifurcation - not afterwards, downstream from the fork, with the current propelling you down the branch you unwittingly took.
The new year may be the time to ask what we want for the relationship between the USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida and the USF Board and Administration. During President Genshaft's tenure, there was a slowly growing feeling of the sort delivered by Walter Matthau in The First Monday in October, saying that he and an often opposing colleague were
| ...like a pair of flying buttresses, leaning against opposite sides of a Gothic cathedral. We helped keep the roof from caving in. If we'd both been on the same side all the time, we might have pushed the building over. You don't have to agree with a man in order to respect him. |
Since Genshaft's departure, the USF Board & Administration have taken a more imperial attitude. (And not just towards the union - consider the attempt to cut the College of Education's undergraduate program, which surprised and outraged many local school districts.) UFF would prefer a more collaborative relationship - perhaps as a flying buttress - but that would require that the Board & Administration accept a more collaborative relationship.
Speaking of relationships...
The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida will meet on Friday, January 14, at 12 noon on Zoom. Any employee in the Bargaining Unit may attend, but you must have an invitation: contact the Chapter Secretary to get one. Meetings and events are posted on the Events Calendar of the UFF USF Website. Come and check us out.
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. Here is the membership form. Come and join the movement.
If you have been the victim of a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or the recent Memorandum of Understanding, 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 Grievances Page.
Many of our students are struggling during this crisis, and the USF Foundation is supporting the USF Food Pantries to help out. They are accepting non-perishable donations, but one can also make monetary donations for the pantries at St. Petersburg, Sarasota / Manatee, and Tampa.
Yes, we are on social media.
The contract between the USF Board of Trustees and the USF Faculty (in the UFF USF Bargaining Unit) is negotiated by the USF Administration (representing the Board) and the United Faculty of Florida (representing employees in the Bargaining Unit). Under Florida law, such a contract is not supposed to cover more than three years.
UFF and the Administration bargained a contract for 2016 - 2019, and then bargained a Memorandum of Understanding extending almost all of the terms and conditions of the 2016 - 2019 contract until the end of the 2020 calendar year - the most significant adjustment being a 1.5% average merit raise. (the contract and the Memorandum are posted online). The Memorandum said that the Memorandum should remain in effect until 31 December 2020, when it would be replaced by a new contract - and that bargaining the new contract "shall begin no later than August 1, 2020."
August 1 came and went. UFF presented a proposed Memorandum of Understanding on the pandemic, the Administration presented a counterproposal, UFF presented a second proposal, and since then (end of August 2020), UFF has heard nothing from the Administration on the pandemic. So much for August 2020.
When it looked like nothing would happen in Fall, 2020, the UFF started presenting proposals. By July of this year, UFF had presented 31 proposals (described in Round 1 on the UFF Bargaining Page). Finally (!), that July, the Administration presented their first proposal, which included a 1% average merit raise for this year - and stripped employees of some important rights and privileges. In August, they added a 2% bonus.
The two teams were far apart, but at the Administration's request, bargaining was put off until November 5 - while USF middle managers claimed that UFF was dragging its feet in bargaining. (USF middle management has a history of spreading misinformation about the union.) On November 5, the Administration presented a package (see Round 3 on the UFF Bargaining Page), which still stripped faculty of the important rights and privileges, and specified average merit raises of 1%, 2%, and 2%, for the three years of the contract - if they felt that they had the money. UFF presented proposals extending employee rights and privileges and a 3% average merit raise (and a 2% bonus). The UFF USF Biweekly broadcast UFF USF Chief Negotiator Robert Welker's Bargaining Report, which stated that the Administration team's reaction to UFF proposals was "silence" while most of the Board's proposals were "insulting and demeaning."
Round 4 really began on December 7, when UFF USF Chapter President Arthur Shapiro made a rather sharp presentation on the history of this cycle of bargaining at the December 7 USF Board of Trustees meeting. The Administration asked for another bargaining session on December 17, and the UFF Bargaining Committee worked hard to develop proposals that would at least get a reaction of some kind. Here are some highlights:
Meanwhile, as the 18 November 2021 Biweekly observed, we have a faculty retention problem at USF - a problem which The Oracle reports is aggravated by an increase in student enrollment. The continued lack of a contract is undermining the university.
Chapter Meeting Friday, January 14, at 12 noon, via Zoom. All UFF members are invited to attend, and non-members are also invited to come and check us out.
Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out 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 or contacting the Chapter Secretary. If you do not receive the Biweekly, but want to, contact the Chapter Secretary.