NATIONAL CENTER
for the S tudy of C ollective B argaining in 
H igher E ducation and the P rofessions
E-Note
  
 
   
 
Follow us on Twitter @HigherEd_CB
October 2017
The National Center E-Note is a monthly electronic newsletter containing research and analysis relevant to unionization and collective bargaining in higher education and the professions.

1.     Save the Date for National Center's 2018 Annual Conference
 
2.     Register Now for Regional Conference on Dec. 1-2, 2017

3.     Taylor Law at 50 Program: Video and Photographs


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Save the Date for National Center's 45th Annual Conference
   45th Annual Conference in NYC: April 15-17, 2018  
 
Mark your calendar for the National Center's annual labor-management conference.  It will take place on April 15-17, 2018 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.  The conference will include interactive workshops, research presentations, and panels focused on collective bargaining issues.

The subject of the conference plenary session will be on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy for our times, 50 years after his assassination in Memphis.  The confirmed speakers for the plenary session are:

William P. Jones, University of Minnesota
Register Now for Regional Conference in Long Beach on Dec. 1-2, 2017 
Register Now for the National Center's regional conference at California State University, Long Beach on December 1-2, 2017.   The conference will include multiple panels relevant to faculty, administrators, and staff at universities, colleges, and community colleges.

Click here for the preliminary program

                                                 Panel Presentations
 
Plenary: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Higher Education with
Debbie Smith, Associate Counsel, SEIU, Jennifer Koh, Professor of Law and Director, Immigration Clinic, Western State College of Law, Karen Ling, Faculty Immigration Advisor, Office of Academic Affairs, CSU East Bay, and Theresa Montano, Vice President, California Teachers Association, Moderator. 
 
Unionization and Bargaining Regarding Adjunct Faculty with Steven Wyllie, Supervisory Attorney, National Labor Relations Board Region 31, Nadine Fishel, Associate Director of Labor Relations, University of California, Mia McIver, President, University Council, AFT, Maria Keegan Myers, Rothner, Segall & Greenstone, Jon C. McNutt, Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP, and Rene Castro, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Employee and Labor Relations, California State University, Moderator.
 
Current Labor-Management Issues for College Non-Academic Staff with Jo Ann Juarez-Salazar, Executive Director, California State University Employees Union, John Swarbrick, Associate Vice Chancellor, Senior Labor Relations Advisor and Chief Negotiator, California State University, Molly Malone, Public Services Director, SEIU Local 503, OPEU, Alex Najera, Employee and Labor Relations Representative, University of California, Riverside, and Arlene King-Berry, University of District of Columbia, Moderator. 
  
Strategies and Challenges in Higher Education Funding with Lillian Taiz, Chair, California Faculty Association Political Action/Legislative  Committee, Jennifer Baker, Legislative Advocate, California Teachers Association, Kathleen Chavira, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advocacy and State Relations, California State University, Doug W. Otto, Long Beach Community College Trustee, and  Theodore Curry, Associate Provost,  Associate Vice President, Michigan State University, Moderator. 
  
Current Labor-Management Issues at Community Colleges with William T. Scroggins, President and CEO, Mt. San Antonio College, Rose DelGaudio, VP of Human Resources, Long Beach City College, DeWayne Sheaffer, President, NEA National Council for Higher Education, Lynette Nyaggah, President, Community College Association, CTA-NEA, and Laura N. Metune, Vice Chancellor, Governmental Relations, California Community College Chancellor's Office, Moderator.
 
Agency Fees: Janus v. AFSCME and Its Ramifications for Employees and Employers with Alexandra Robert Gordon, Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice, Ruben Garcia, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, William S. Boyd School of Law Professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jennifer Eagan, President, California Faculty Association, and William Connellan, Assistant Provost, University of Florida, Moderator. 
 
Accreditation in Higher Education Today with Rufus Glasper, President and CEO, League for Innovation in the Community College, Paul L. Gaston, Trustees Professor Emeritus, Kent State University, Nicole Hochsprung, Senior Policy Associate, AFT Higher Education, Robert Shireman, Senior Fellow, Century Foundation, and Margaret Merryfield, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Human Resources, California State University, Moderator. 
 
Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations for Administrators and Labor Representatives with Karen Stubaus, Vice President, Academic Affairs & Administration, Rutgers University, Jonathan Karpf, Assistant Vice President, Lecturers (North), California Faculty Association, David Cecil, Executive Director, United Academics of the University of Oregon, Colleen Mullery, Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Human Resources, Humboldt State University, and Mariann Hyland, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Oregon, Moderator.
 
Discipline: How to Investigate, Present, and Defend with Kathy Sheffield, Director of Representation, California Faculty Association, Peter Fehrs, Senior Labor Relations Coordinator, University of Oregon, Michelle Hunt, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, CSU San Marcos, Mara M. Otero, Senior Labor Relations Representative, California School Employees Association, North Bay, and David Weinberg, Arbitrator and Mediator, Moderator.

Closing Plenary:  Where Do We Go From Here? with Gary Rhoades, Professor and Director of the University of Arizona's Center for the Study of Higher Education, Adrianna Kezar, Professor, USC, Co-director Pullias Center and Director Delphi Project, and Malini Cadambi Daniel, Director for Higher Education, SEIU, Moderator. 
 heading3
Taylor Law at 50 Program: Video and Photographs 
The National Center extends its many thanks to the panelists and attendees for making our Taylor Law at 50 Program a success. The September 26, 2017 event was co-sponsored by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies.  
 
Click here to watch the entire Taylor Law program.  Photos from the event are posted below.
 
 
 
The Taylor Law and Public Sector Unionization in Historical Context  (l-r) William A. Herbert, National Center;Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University; Joshua B. Freeman, CUNY Graduate Center, Queens College, and the Murphy Institute; Kimberly Phillips-Fein, NYU Gallatin School; Martin H. Malin, Institute for Law and the Workplace at the Illinois Institute of Technology.  
 
 
Public Sector Collective Bargaining: Where Do We Go From Here? Ben Gordon, Metro Industrial Areas Foundation and former CSEA Director of Organizing.

 
Public Sector Collective Bargaining: Where Do We Go From Here? Ashwini Sukthankar, International Commission for Labor Rights discussing the use of international law concerning public sector labor issues along with moderator Marilyn Sneiderman, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, and Ben Gordon.

 
Public Sector Collective Bargaining: Where Do We Go From Here? (l-r) Stephen Lerner, Georgetown University, discussing bargaining for the common good with Terry Melvin, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and NYS AFL-CIO.

 
Welcoming Remarks: The Hon. John F. Wirenius, Chairperson, New York State Public Employment Relations Board.

 
Program Reception: Marilyn Sneiderman and Terry L. Melvin.

 
Program Reception: Sarah G. Coleman, New York State Public Employment Relations Board; Mariam Manichaikul, New York State Public Employment Relations Board Brooklyn Region Office; Susan Panepento, New York City Office of Collective Bargaining; and Karine Spencer, New York City Office of Collective Bargaining.   
heading4
LGBTQ Employees & Changes to Title VII Program on November 29
On November 29, 2017, the LGBT Social Science & Public Policy Center at Hunter College will be hosting a program entitled LGBTQ Employees & Changes to Title VII Guidance: What's at Risk?

The program will take place at Casa Lally, 132 East 65th, Third Floor in New York City from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.  The National Center is co-sponsoring the event.

The speakers will be:


Ryan Thoreson, who is a researcher in the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Ryan clerked for the Honorable Scott M. Matheson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was a research fellow at OutRight Action International. He is the author of Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide (University of Minnesota Press, 2014). Ryan holds a law degree from Yale Law School, a Doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in government and studies of women, gender, and sexuality from Harvard University.

Rosemary DiSavino, who  is a Senior Trial Attorney in the Newark Area Office of the New York District Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) with over 20 years experience litigating employment discrimination cases. She obtained her B.A. from Upsala College and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School where she was the recipient of the Ella Baker Scholarship and the Edward Sparer Fellowship. Ms. DiSavino is admitted in New York and New Jersey and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  Prior to joining EEOC, Ms. DiSavino was in private practice, where she concentrated on representing plaintiffs in employment discrimination matters. While in private practice, Ms. DiSavino was one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters v. Rutgers and the State of N.J., a 1993 case which sought health insurance coverage for the same-sex domestic partners of Rutgers employees. As an EEOC Trial Attorney, Ms. DiSavino litigates employment discrimination claims arising under federal anti-discrimination laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
heading5
Fordham: NTT Faculty Election Set with School Agreeing to Neutrality
Fordham University, NLRB Case No. 02-RC-207806
 
On October 11, 2017, SEIU filed a petition with the NLRB seeking to represent approximately 900 part-time adjunct faculty at three campuses of Fordham University.  The representation petition was filed following an agreement reached between the university and SEIU with respect to the conduct of the election.  
 
Under the agreement, Fordham has agreed to the following:
 
The University has agreed to an official policy of neutrality.
 
The University will not advise the employees concerning how they should respond or vote during the Union's organizing campaign or election.
 
The University agrees that it shall not conduct an anti-union campaign.
 
No University officer, administrator, supervisor, designee or agent shall provide assistance to any individual or group who may wish to pursue an anti-union campaign, including use of employer time, property or resources.
 
Fordham has also circulated guidance to the university community with respect to
its legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act concerning the election. 

NLRB Region 2 will be conducting a mail ballot election.  The ballots will be mailed on October 27, 2017, and will be commingled and counted on November 14, 2017   
 
The following is the at-issue faculty unit at Fordham University:  

Included: All part - time and non - tenure track faculty who teach at Fordham's Rose Hill Campus, Lincoln Center Campus, Westchester Campus, including: Adjunct Instructors; Adjunct Lecturers; Adjunct Assistant Professors; Adjunct Associate Professors; Adjunct Professors who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending October 13, 2017, or who were employed in the petitioned - for unit during the Spring 2017 semester. (2) Full - Time Non - Tenure Track Faculty: All full - time non - tenure track faculty who teach at Fordham's Rose Hill Campus, Lincoln Center Campus, Westchester Campus, including: Lecturers; Senior Lecturers; Clinical Professors; Assistant Clinical Professors; Associate Clinical Professors; Instructors (non - tenure track); Postdoctoral Fellows; Coordinators who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending October 13, 2017, or who were employed in the petitioned for unit during the Spring 2017 semester.
 
Excluded: Graduate Assistants; Research Assistants; Graduate Students; all tenured and  tenure - track faculty; part - time and full - time non - tenure track faculty in the Fordham University School of Law; part - time non - tenure track faculty in the Gabelli School of Business; part - time non - tenure track faculty in the Graduate School of Education; full - time visiting professors of all ranks; full - time Artists in Residence; full - time Writers in Residence; all faculty who hold other part - time or full - time employment with the Employer or who are past or current members of Fordham's Board of Trustees; all part - time and full - time faculty who hold positions of Directors, Associate Directors, and Assistant Directors, Professors Emeriti, Associate Professors Emeriti, Professors of Military Science and other faculty of Military Science; Reserve Officer Training Corps part - time non - tenure track faculty; Research Professors; Research Associate Professors; Research Assistant Professors; Research Fellows; part - time and full - time non - tenure track faculty who teach only online, or only non - credit bearing courses; part - time and full - time non - tenure track faculty who hold the position of Chair, Associate Chair, or Assistant Chair; and all guards, and managers and supervisors, as defined in the Act.
heading6 
Washington University: GSE Election Scheduled for October 25-26, 2017
Washington University, NLRB Case No. 14-RC-206299

On October 16, 2017, NLRB Region 14 Director Leonard J. Perez issued a Decision and Direction of Election concerning a petition filed by SEIU seeking to represent a unit of graduate student employees working at Washington University.  The Regional Director ordered an on-site election to take place on October 25 and 26, 2017. 

On October 24, 2017, the NLRB Board issued a decision denying Washington University's request for review of the Regional Director's orders denying its motions to stay the representation proceeding. 

The following is the at-issue faculty unit at Washington University:

Included: All graduate students who are in departments and programs of the College of Arts and Sciences, housed on the Danforth Campus, who are working toward PhD degrees offered by the Employer's Graduate School and who are employed by the Employer to provide instructional services in undergraduate or graduate classrooms or labs or to provide research services in a department or program of the College of Arts and Sciences, housed on the Danforth Campus, including, but not limited to, such workers known as Graders, Instructors, and Assistants to Instructor, also known as Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, Instructional Aides, Mentored Teaching Experiences (MTE), and Mentored Research Experiences (MRE). 

Excluded: Guards and supervisors as defined by the Act and all other employees.
heading7
University of Washington: UAW Files to Represent Post-Docs
University of Washington, WPERC Case No. 129731-E-17 
 
On October 3, 2017, the UAW filed a petition with the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission seeking to represent a bargaining unit composed of 1150 post-doctoral employees at the University of Washington.  The following is the proposed unit sought in the representation petition:
 
Included:  All postdoctoral employees employed by the University of Washington in the following titles: Senior Fellows (10445), Senior Fellow Trainee (10442), Research Associate (10148), Research Associate Trainee (10150), and also including employees in the following titles, Acting Instructor, Lectuer, Acting Assistant Professor, and Visiting Scientist, who meet the definition of post-doctoral employee set forth in the University of Washington Office of Post-Doctoral Affairs Handbook "An individual who has received a doctoral degree and is engaged in a temporary and defined period of mentored advanced training to enhance the professional skills and research independence needed to pursue his or her chosen career path." 
 
Excluded: All other employees.  
heading8 
Herkimer County CC:  ALJ Rules PT Adjunct Faculty in Separate Unit
  Herkimer County Community College, NYPERB Case No. C-6296
 
New York Public Employment Relations Board Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Lynn Fitzgerald rendered a decision finding that part-time adjunct faculty at Herkimer County Community College should be in a bargaining unit separate from full-time college employees who receive additional compensation for teaching on an adjunct basis.  The decision was made concerning a representation petition filed by SEIU.
 
ALJ Fitzgerald reached her conclusion based on the fact that the full-time employees.are already represented by the Herkimer County Community College Professional Association.  Secondly, the decision was based on the ALJ's finding that there was a conflict of interest "between the part-time adjuncts and full-time College employees based on the stark differences in their employment relationship with the College, which overrides any community of interest they may share in regard to the terms and conditions of their adjunct employment."
 
The following is the bargaining unit found to be appropriate by the ALJ:
 
Included: All part-time adjunct faculty.
 
Excluded: All adjunct faculty who hold any full-time position at the College, and all others.
heading9 
University of Chicago: GSE Vote in Favor of AAUP-AFT Representation
University of Chicago , NLRB Case No 13-RC-198325
 
On October 19, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board Region 13 office tallied the ballots in a representation election concerning graduate student employees (GSE) seeking to be represented by an AAUP-AFT affiliate.  Of the 2,457 in the bargaining unit, 1,103 voted in favor of union representation, 479 voted against, with an additional 149 ballots  subject to challenge.  It is probable that the challenged ballots related to graduate students who are employed in the university's libraries and also hold teaching and research positions.
 
The following is the at-issue GSE bargaining unit at the University of Chicago: 
 
Included: All graduate students who are full-time and regular part-time teaching assistants, research assistants, course assistants, workshop coordinators, writing interns, preceptors, language assistants, instructors, lecturers, lectors, and teaching interns in the School of Divinity, School of Social Services Administration, Division of Social Sciences, Division of Humanities, Division of Biological Sciences, and Division of Physical Sciences employed by the Employer at its campus in Chicago, Illinois. 
 
Excluded: All other employees, managerial employees, guards, and supervisors as defined in the Act.
heading10 
St. Catherine University: Adjunct Faculty Vote Against Unionization
St. Catherine University, NLRB Case No. 18-RC-199024

On October 24, 2017, the National Labor Relations Board Region 18 office tallied the ballots in an election among adjunct faculty at St. Catherine University in Minnesota concerning a representation petition filed by SEIU.  Of the 296 adjunct faculty in the proposed faculty bargaining unit, 107 faculty voted against unionization, 106 voted in favor, with an additional 18 ballots voided.  

The following is the at-issue faculty bargaining unit at St. Catherine University:

Included: All part time regular faculty who teach undergraduate or graduate-level credit-earning courses or labs who are non-tenure track faculty (including but not limited to the following titles: adjunct instructor, adjunct lecturer, adjunct professor, adjunct faculty, lecturer or instructor) teaching at St. Catherine University, located at 2004 Randolph Ave, St Paul, MN 55105, 601 25th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454, and online.   Also eligible to vote are those in the unit who teach or taught at least one lab or credit-earning class in the Fall 2016 semester, January 2017 term, or the Spring 2017 semester. 

Excluded: All administrators (including Deans, Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, Directors, Associate Directors, Assistant Directors, Provosts, Associate Provosts, Vice Presidents, Chairs, and Administrators, whether or not they have teaching assignments); any faculty member who holds an FTE position, visiting faculty, adjunct advisors, full-time tenured and non-tenured track faculty; Graduate Students (including those teaching courses in addition to being paid a stipend); all other employees at St. Catherine University (including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching); managers, confidential employees, office clerical employees, professional employees, guards, and supervisors as defined by the Act, as amended. 
heading11 
Emerson College: Clarification Sought Regarding 3 Non-Faculty Units
Emerson College, NLRB Case Nos. 01-UC-206677,  01-UC-206695, 01-UC-206704
 
Three unit clarification petitions were filed on September 22, 2017 by Emerson College with NLRB Region 1 seeking to clarify the status of three individuals in non-faculty units as potentially confidential or supervisory employees. The existing units were certified by the NLRB in April 2016 and are represented by SEIU.    
heading12 
Colgate University: SEIU Certified to Represent Non-Faculty Employees
Colgate University, NLRB Case No. 03-RC-205477

On October 5, 2017, SEIU was certified to represent the following unit of non-faculty employees at Colgate University:

Included:  All full-time Classroom, Digital Media and Event employees, and all full-time Engagement Teams employees, in the Information Technology Services Department employed by the Employer at its 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, New York 13346 location who were employed by the Employer during the payroll period ending September 10, 2017

Excluded: All professional employees, guards, managers and supervisors as defined by the Act, and all other employees.
heading13
Suffolk University: No Representative Selected As Result of Tie Vote
Suffolk University, NLRB Case No: 01-RC-191721
 
On October 4, 2017, NLRB Region 1 tallied the ballots in an election conducted concerning a representation petition filed by SEIU seeking to represent a unit of full time clerical and technical employees of Suffolk University.  Of the 176 eligible employees, 96 voted in favor of unionization, and 96 voted against, resulting in a resulting in the issuance of a certification of results on October 12, 2017 by NLRB Region 1.
heading14
Northern Illinois University: ULP for Unilaterally Increasing Parking Fees
Northern Illinois University, IELRB Case No. 2016-CA-0084-C

On September 14, 2017, the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board issued a decision finding that Northern Illinois University violated its legal obligations to bargain a mandatory subject under the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act when it unilaterally changed the status quo by implementing a $19.00 fee increase for campus parking permits. The agency found that there were no existing contract terms or bargaining history concerning the issue, and the employees had a reasonable expectation that the fee amount would remain the same based on the past practice.
heading15
Community College of Vermont:  Adjunct Faculty Vote for AFT 
Community College of Vermont, VLRB Docket No. 17-29

Last week, the Vermont Labor Relations Board tallied the ballots in a representation election concerning a petition filed by AFT to represent adjunct faculty at the Community College of Vermont.  The tally showed that 298 adjunct faculty voted in favor of union representation, and 133 voted against.   

The following is the at-issue faculty unit:
 
Included: Instructors employed by the Community College of Vermont who meet the following requirements comprise an appropriate bargaining unit: 1) have been employed for at least four semesters out of the previous four academic years, or who currently are in their fourth teaching semester; and 2) have taught at least three credit hours in the prior academic year (fall semester, spring semester and summer semester taken together are considered the academic year as defined by CCV). After initial entry into the bargaining unit, instructors will exit from the bargaining unit following any complete September to August period in which they have not taught at least three credits. August 31st will be considered the exit date (e.g., if someone teaches in the Fall of 2017, he or she stays in the unit until August 31, 2019, even if he or she has not taught three credits during that period.)

Excluded: full or part time Coordinators of Academic Services, Deans, Associate Deans, Assistant Deans, and Directors; professional, administrative, technical and clerical employees whose primary assignment or appointment is as a staff person; all full-time employees regardless of position; blue collar, maintenance, security and other non-professional employees; and all other confidential, supervisory, and managerial employees. Also excluded from the unit are all other employees who are otherwise covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the Vermont State Colleges, with the exception of those employees represented by the Part-Time Faculty Federation. Teaching service during a period of employment with CCV in which such an employee was excluded from the unit will not count for future unit eligibility.
heading16 
University of South Florida: Hearing Officer Finds Adjuncts Can Unionize
University of South Florida, FPERC Case No. RC-2017-007

On October 13, 2017, Florida Public Employees Relations Commission Hearing Officer Van Whittle issued a 29-page recommended decision and order rejecting arguments by the University of South Florida challenging a representation petition filed by SEIU seeking to represent part-time non-tenure track faculty at the university's Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota-Manatee campuses.

The Hearing Officer rejected the university's claim that the adjunct faculty did not have the right to union representation because the university defined them as temporary with no right or expectation of continued employment.  In rejecting that argument, the Hearing Officer emphasized that public employees in Florida have a state constitutional right to collectively bargain.

Lastly, the Hearing Officer found that SEIU had met its burden of demonstrating that proposed bargaining unit was appropriate under applicable agency standards.  The following is the bargaining unit found to be appropriate at the University of South Florida:

Included: All part-time non-tenure-track faculty (including Adjunct Faculty, Adjuncts-Contingent, Adjunct, Adjunct Instruct, Skilled Craftsman, Into/Pathways, Instructor, Instructor I, Instructor II, and Hourly Employee) employed by the University of South Florida at its Tampa Campus, St. Petersburg Campus, and Sarasota-Manatee Campus, who is teaching at least one college-credit-bearing course, including any employee who also works for the University in another capacity unless expressly excluded.
 
Excluded:  All other faculty, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, full-time faculty, visiting or contract faculty, faculty who are currently part of an existing bargaining unit, all administrations (including academic advisors, deans, assistants to deans, provost, directors, coordinators, can department chairs), student services advising generalists, athletic coaches, all faculty teaching at the College of Nursing, Morsani College of Medicine, College of Public Health, School of Physical Therapy, School of Biomedical Sciences,  and College of Pharmacy, all other employees who are not compensated additionally for teaching, managers, confidential employees, and supervisors.
heading17 
Tallahassee Community College: UFF Files Unfair Labor Practice Charge
Tallahassee Community College, FPERC Case No. 2017-059

On September 29, 2017, United Faculty of Florida filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (FPERC) alleging that Tallahassee Community College violated its legal obligations to bargain when it unilaterally reduced the amount of faculty compensation for accompanying students on trips abroad.  On October 3, 2017, the FPERC General Counsel issued a notice of sufficiency, which requires the college to serve and file an answer to the charge.
heading18
University of Washington: Physical Therapists Added to SEIU Unit
University of Washington, WPERC Case No 129404-E-17

On September 20, 2017, SEIU's petition to add Physical Therapists 1, 2, 3, and Specialists working for the University of Washington Hall Health Center into the following existing bargaining unit  was granted by the Washington Public Employment Relations Commission:
All full-time and regular part-time non-supervisory laboratory technical employees employed by the University of Washington in hospitals and clinics operated by the University of Washington, excluding confidential employees, supervisors, internal auditors, and all other employees.
heading19
Central State University: AAUP Unit Modified to Add Faculty Positions
Central State University, OSERB Case No. 2017-REP-08-0090

On September 14, 2017, the Ohio State Employment Relations Board approved a jointly filed petition by the  American Association of University Professors, Central State University Chapter, and  the Central State University, which sought to amend the existing full-time faculty bargaining unit to include the titles of Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor and Research Professor.  
 
The following is the approved amended bargaining unit:

Included: All full-time faculty members who hold unqualified academic rank of Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Professor or the qualified rank of Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, or Research Professor and for whom instruction, professional library work, and/or assigned research duties comprise at least 50% of their workload. When approved in writing by the Administration, released time will count toward the minimum 50% teaching and/or professional library duties, and/or assigned research duties required for Bargaining Unit status.

Excluded: Part-time faculty members; full-time faculty for whom teaching and/or professional library work, and/or assigned research duties do not represent 50% or more of their workload; administrators at the level of Department Chairperson and above; persons holding faculty titles or ranks in the Reserve Officers Training Corps; athletic coaches whose primary duties are not in teaching; persons holding faculty titles whose primary duties are in the direction of non-academic departments or programs; and, all other employees not specified in 3.2 above.
 heading20
Terra Community Coll.: Grievances for Non-Renewal Not Arbitrable 
Terra Faculty Association v. Terra Community College, Ohio Court of Appeals

On September 29, 2017, the Ohio Court of Appeals issued a decision concluding that grievances filed by six non-tenured faculty members challenging their non-reappointment were not arbitrable under the terms of the parties collective bargaining agreement.  There was no dispute in the record that the faculty members had received written notice of their non-reappointment consistent with Article XI, Section 11.04(A) of the parties' collective bargaining agreement.

The state appellate court concluded that the grievances challenging the non-reappointment letters were not arbitrable based on the exclusionary language contained in Article XI, Section 11.04(B), which states that "[n]on-renewal of a non-tenured faculty member's contract is final and not subject to the grievance procedure or other review except for failing to comply with the procedural required of Section 11.04(A)."  
heading21
Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Journal of CBA Logo  
   
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 

The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy (JCBA) is the National Center's peer review journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University, and Steve Hicks, Professor of English, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.  
 
We encourage scholars, practitioners, and graduate students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor representation, labor relations, and labor history to submit articles for potential publication in future JCBA volumes.
 heading22
Campus Equity Week
The annual Campus Equity Week campaign promotes awareness of the  consequences of precarious work for faculty in higher education and to organize for action.   
 
Campus Equity Week has traditionally spanned the last calendar week in October. This year, the organizers are calling for a national day of action on October 31, 2017.
heading23 
Higher Education Organizer Job Opportunity with SEIU Local 509
SEIU Local 509 is hiring a full-time Internal Organizer in the union's Higher Education chapter.  The Internal Organizer will organize and represent faculty in private institutions of higher education. Work will primarily take place in the Greater Boston area, though travel throughout the state may be necessary.

SEIU Local 509 is an equal opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity -
women, people of color and LGBTQ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Interested candidates should submit a résumé and cover letter, with "INTERNAL
ORGANIZER" in the subject line, to Matt Dauphin, Higher Education Coordinator, at
[email protected].  The deadline for application is November 1, 2017 at 5:00 pm (EST) with an anticipated start date of November 15, 2017
Corrections
This version of the October 2017 E-Note includes corrections from the issue originally distributed on October 25, 2017.  The National Center welcomes comments warranting corrections.
National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions 
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