You Should Have Received Your Ballot Packet

The proposed contract bargained by the United Faculty of Florida (representing UFF USF employees) and the USF Administration (representing the USF Board of Trustees) has been submitted to the UFF USF employees for a vote by mail. Ballot packets were sent to home addresses of UFF USF employees, and you should have received your packet by now. Each ballot packet is in a 9 x 12 white envelope from the UFF USF Bargaining Committee. Any UFF USF employee who has not received their ballot should contact the Chapter Secretary.

Each ballot packet will contain an instruction sheet (on white paper), a ballot (on blue paper), a small envelope (for the ballot) and a regular stamped and addressed envelope (for mailing the ballot to the UFF USF Bargaining Team). Ballots must be received by May 13 in order to be counted; we recommend mailing ballots by May 6.

The proposed contract does not come into force unless and until ratified by both the UFF USF employees and the USF Board of Trustees. The UFF USF Bargaining team unanimously recommends voting in favor of ratification.

Significant items in the proposed contract include:

• provides pay increases to permanent satisfactory faculty hired before 7 August 2021 for three consecutive years beginning with a $2000.00 one-time bonus payable upon full ratification of the CBA, followed by a 3.5% base increase to all faculty with satisfactory evaluations effective August 2022, and then a 2.0% base increase to all faculty with satisfactory evaluations effective August 2023;
• base salary increases are cumulative and not contingent;
• creates a 1% discretionary pool in every year of the contract to fund faculty compensation adjustments for special achievements, market equity, counter offers, and awards;
• extends the tuition waiver program to faculty, which allows USF employees to transfer their own unused credit hours of instruction to their spouses, domestic partners, or dependents, including children for the purpose of enrolling in eligible courses, all pursuant to a plan developed by the University;
• strengthened the participation of the faculty in developing expectations for evaluation;
• updates the article on sexual harassment and Title IX;
• supports a clinical practice plan for nursing faculty, a first at USF;
• commitments to study and address faculty salary equity; and
• maintains the protections and processes with which the faculty are accustomed.

Next Chapter Meeting on May 13

The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida will meet Friday, May 13, at 12 noon at a location TBD, and on Zoom. This will be joint meeting of the Chapter and the Bargaining Committee, which will count the ratification ballots. Any employee in the Bargaining Unit may attend; details will be announced soon.

Meetings and events are posted on the Events Calendar of the UFF USF Website. Come and check us out.

Join UFF Today!

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.

USF United Support Fund for Food Pantries

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.

LOGISTICS

Ballots will be counted at a meeting of the UFF USF Bargaining Team on Friday, May 13, at 12 noon, at a location TBD; it will be hybrid, and a Zoom link will be made available. The next Chapter Meeting will be on Friday, May 27, details TBD.

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 UFF USF members.

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