United Academics News: March 2024

March 2024: A long-awaited victory, and a call to action

Last week, the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB) issued a decision announcing the UVM administration must bargain with UA regarding any changes to its Conflict of Interest (COI) policy. This is a big and long-awaited win for UA! You can read the details of their decision here.

More than two years ago, the UVM administration implemented a new COI policy without bargaining the changes with UA. We filed grievances and, with the support of our attorney, mounted a very strong case in our VLRB hearing last April. The VLRB determination was that the UVM administration needed to bargain those changes with UA and did not.

We’re so pleased to prevail after such a long fight. If UA had not challenged this overreach, it could have set a precedent that undermined our collective bargaining process and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

As you know, your union is bargaining a new CBA right now. Until we have bargained changes to the COI policy, the administration must revert to the 2014 policy.

About bargaining: It happens every Friday morning from 9am to noon. Members can (and should!) attend to observe the sessions. Members who have never attended may be surprised to see how negotiations work. On March 22 and 29, we need a big turnout of our members to hear the proposals we will make on our members’ behalf, and to witness the administration’s proposals. Read on for more on this, and other updates.

And sign on to show your support for a strong contract: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-uvm-faculty-contract-negotiations?source=direct_link&

We wish you a restful spring break and hope to see you in the bargaining room!

In solidarity,

Suzy and Kate

Suzy Comerford, President
Katlyn Morris, Executive Director

Call to Action: Attend Bargaining March 22,
March 29

Please show up to hear proposals and support your union’s bargaining team between 9am-12pm on Friday March 22 and Friday March 29! All bargaining takes place in Jeffords 234 and via Zoom.

While we encourage all members to attend any or all bargaining sessions, these two dates are particularly important.

March 22 is the deadline for initial proposals of non-economic articles, including around appointments and assignments. Our proposals include some big changes that reflect our members’ priorities. It will be very important that faculty are present to lend support to these proposals.

The March 29 agenda includes initial economic proposals and rationale from both UA and the administration: this means specific proposed changes to salary increases and minimum salaries.

In the meantime, sign on to show your support for a strong contract: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-uvm-faculty-contract-negotiations?source=direct_link&

Welcome New UA Leaders

The United Academics Nominations and Elections committee would like to congratulate the four new members of the Delegates Assembly (DA), all of whom were recently elected by their colleagues in their respective units:

Alice Scannell representing Part-time faculty
Srinivas Venugopal representing Grossman School of Business
Dan Weise representing College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Brian Beckage representing College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

We are extremely grateful to these newly elected members for stepping up to support our union!

Interested in legislative issues? Want to help decide which students will receive UA’s annual scholarships awarded to students commited to community service, especially in pursuit of social, economic or environmental justice? Ready to help with other essential union work? Please consider joining a UA committee! See committee and contact information here.

Learn more about your union’s leadership.

Legislative Update

We are in our third year of our quest to build relationships with and work with the Vermont Legislature to place two faculty and two staff on the UVM Board of Trustees. 23% of other land grant institutions have faculty on their BOT, including Cornell.

Last year, we got bill S.116 through the Senate. This year, our Legislative Committee has been working hard to try to move companion bill H.446 though the House. To date, we have:

· Corresponded regularly with legislators explaining the bill and asking for their support.

· Met Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski in December to discuss the bill. She arranged a recent meeting with us and Legislative Trustees on the BOT.

· Spent time at the legislature. A subset of the committee has been heading to Montpelier weekly to meet and talk with legislators to build relationships and move the bill process forward.

· Testified on the bill in the House Education Committee in February (see video of Suzy and Justin’s testimony here)

· Met with Speaker Krowinski and Legislative Trustees: “Coach” Christie, Stephanie Jerome, Tristan Toleno, and Carol Ode to discuss the bill.

All committee members have contributed and learned a great deal in the process. This is an active, interesting committee. We welcome new members. Please contact Justin Morgan Parmett jparmett@gmail.com or Suzy Comerford at uasuzy@gmail.com if you are interested.

2024 UA Student Scholarships Due April 30

UA awards our Backus, Brace, and Shiman scholarships to students who demonstrate an active commitment to community service, especially in pursuit of social, economic or environmental justice. Please encourage your students to apply!

Scholarship descriptions, requirements, and the online application are on the UA Student Scholarship web page. Applications are due April 30, 2024.

Upcoming UA Events:

Upcoming bargaining sessions:

Friday March 22, 9am-12pm: UA will propose several major non-economic articles regarding appointments and assignments.

Friday March 29, 9am-12pm: Both teams will bring our initial economic proposals to the table.

Ongoing Fridays, 9am-12pm: Full-time contract negotiations continue. (Note: no bargaining session during spring break)

All members are welcome to attend as observers (Jeffords 234 or on Zoom). Members, wear your UA t-shirt every Friday.

Delegates Assembly/Bargaining Council meeting:

Friday March 22, 2:30-4pm on Zoom

All members are encouraged to attend this and all DA meetings. This semester especially, DA meetings are opportunities to provide feedback on bargaining proposals.

UA Spring Membership Meeting:

Tuesday April 2, 4-5:30pm in John Dewey Lounge

COTS Walk:

This year’s COTS Walk is on Sunday, May 5. We're interested in putting together our third annual United Academics walking/fundraising team. COTS is a fantastic organization, and here is a way we can come together to support unhoused community members. Please contact Katlyn if you're interested in contributing any amount and/or interested in joining our walk team.

For a full list of UA meetings and events, as well as meetings and events held by other unions and endorsed by UA, visit our calendar.

UA Benefits Chart

UA’s Benefits Chart is a resource to help all faculty know their rights. The chart also shows how inequitable the system is for Lecturers. One of our bargaining priorities is to change that.

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