A New Union will Represent MSU Fixed Term Faculty and Academic Staff who Teach Credit Courses
At the offices of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission today, votes were counted in the union representation election. The Union of Nontenure-track Faculty (UNTF), an American Federation of Teachers affiliate, won the election by a vote of 240 to 113. There were 634 fixed term faculty and academic staff in the bargaining unit eligible to vote.
The UNTF will be certified by MERC to represent a group of MSU fixed term faculty and academic staff who may change semester by semester based upon their link to teaching credit courses. The complete bargaining unit description is included below. Based upon our past experience at negotiating a first contract, it is anticipated that the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with UNTF will take many months. In the meantime, labor law limits the ability of the employer to make unilateral changes to the wages, hours or working conditions of this group of employees during the process of negotiating that first contract. The University's focus now is on developing with this group the same kinds of trusting and candid information sharing and bargaining relationships we have with all other such units at MSU.
Michigan State University Fixed Term Faculty and Fixed Term Academic Staff Bargaining Unit [i]
April 29, 2009
Included:
All fixed term faculty and fixed term academic staff who: (1) are currently teaching regularly scheduled credit courses, or (2) are currently teaching non-credit courses that are required for degree completion, degree program admittance, or teacher certification.
"Currently teaching" means only that bargaining unit inclusion will be determined according to the duties assigned to an employee in any one semester, regardless of the duties assigned in any other semester.
Excluded:
1. All faculty appointed in the tenure system;
2. All fixed term faculty and fixed term academic staff whose only teaching of credit courses consists of individualized research, outreach and engagement mentorship courses;
3. All fixed term faculty and fixed term academic staff whose only teaching duties consist of guest lectures and presentations;
4. All employees appointed within a continuing appointment system;
5. All employees appointed within NSCL;
6. All adjunct, clinical, and military faculty and academic staff with no MSU salary;
7. All Faculty in the colleges of Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine who as a part of their assignment are engaged in the direct provision of medical services;
9. All Michigan State University faculty and academic staff whose regular assignment base is not the main campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing or Lansing, Michigan;
10. All MSU faculty and academic staff who are engaged in non-credit instructional activities only, except for the non-credit instructional duties specifically included above.
11. All Advisors without credit instructional duties, except for the non-credit instructional duties specifically included above;
12. All librarians without credit instructional duties, except for the non-credit instructional duties specifically included above;
13. All research associates and post-doctoral fellows;
14. All visiting faculty with tenure or tenure system status at another institution of higher education;
15. All coaches, including assistant and associate coaches;
16. All executive managers;
17. All supervisors; confidential employees; employees represented by other recognized bargaining agents at MSU; and all other employees.
[i] NOTE: Voting eligibility is limited to employees who conform to the unit definition above as of the payroll period ending April 1, 2009.
