The National Center E-Note is an electronic newsletter providing news, updates and analysis concerning events and issues of interest to our constituency groups.
March 2015 Edition Contents:
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Register Now for the National Center's 42nd Annual Conference on April 19-21, 2015 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City
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The National Center's 42nd Annual Conference will take place on April 19-21, 2015 at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. The theme of the conference will be Thinking about Tomorrow: Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations in Higher Education. Early registration is highly recommended.
Click here for conference brochure. (Please note that hotel rooms are currently available only at the Affinia Shelburne hotel.)
Click here for conference schedule.
Click here for conference registration form.
Click here for credit card payment of conference fees.
The conference will include panels and interactive workshops on many important and topical subjects including: civility and academic freedom; the NLRB's recent Pacific Lutheran University decision; negotiating about tenure track faculty, contingent faculty and graduate assistants; first contracts at the University of Oregon, Georgetown University and Tufts University; the use of financial data; faculty salary schedules and pay equity; effective contract administration; sexual assaults on campus; and many other important topics.
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Sign Up Now for Interactive Conference Workshops
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Throughout the conference, there will be interactive workshops presented to enhance the practical skills of new and experienced labor representatives and administrators.
We strongly encourage registrants to sign up now for conference workshops.
Click here to sign up for conference workshops.
Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations for New Administrators and Labor Representatives with Conrad Bowling, FMCS Commissioner, Jeffrey Cross, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern Illinois University Deborah Williams, NEA Faculty Association President and Lead Negotiator, Johnson County Community College and Alyssa Picard, Acting Director, AFT Higher Education, Moderator. Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations for Experienced Administrators and Labor Representatives with Joseph Ambash, Fisher & Phillips, LLP, Thomas Olson, Commissioner, FMCS and Howard Parish, Arbitrator & Mediator, Panelist and Moderator. Use of Financial Data Analysis for Collective Bargaining with Howard Bunsis, Chair, AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress, Professor of Accounting, Eastern Michigan University, John Swarbrick, Associate Vice Chancellor for Labor Relations, California State University System and Jeffery Frumkin, Associate Vice Provost and Senior Director, Academic Human Resources, University of Michigan, Moderator. Effective Contract Administration for Administrators and Labor Representatives with Debra Gold, Labor Relations Specialist, NYSUT, Michael J. Lebowich, Proskauer Rose LLP and Brian Duffy, Acting Associate Provost, Hunter College, CUNY, Moderator.
Practices and Policies on Bullying and Harassment with Fran Sepler, Sepler and Associates, MN Lesley Burke-O'Flynn, Federation of Post-Secondary Educators Staff Representative, British Columbia, Canada, and Phadra Williams, Organizational Specialist, Office of Higher Education, NEA, Moderator. Workshop Training: Mindfulness and Stress Management for Negotiations and Labor Relations with Victor Goode, Associate Professor, City University of New York School of Law, Jeanne Anselmo, co-founder, Contemplative Urban Law Program, City University of New York School of Law Dmitri Norwood, Network Manager, AL A&M President, AL A&M University EA, Moderator. |
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Locations, Events and Hotels for 42nd Annual Conference
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Conference Locations and Events:
Sunday, April 19, 2015, CUNY Graduate Center: 365 5th Avenue, NY, NY, 10016 (reception, research panels and workshops)
Sunday, April 19, 2015, Heartland Brewery-Empire State Building: 350 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10118 (buffet dinner, open bar)
Monday-Tuesday, April 20-21, 2015, CUNY Graduate Center: 365 5th Avenue, NY, NY, 10016 (continental breakfast, panels, lunch and workshops)
Please note the new locations for the Sunday, April 19th events are the CUNY Graduate Center and the Heartland Brewery.
Conference Hotels:
Affinia Dumont: 150 East 34th Street, NY, NY, 10016
(note: the block at the Dumont is closed)
Affinia Shelburne: 303 Lexington Avenue, NY, NY, 10016
Room Rate: $289/night.
Click here for hotel reservation information. (Note: new reservations are currently available only at the Affinia Shelburne hotel.)
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| Articles from Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Volume 6 |
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We encourage scholars, practitioners and students in the fields of collective bargaining, labor representation and labor relations to submit articles for publication in future volumes of the on-line journal, which is hosted by the Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University.
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Illinois Federation of Teachers Certified to Represent New Unit of Full-Time Tenure Track Faculty at the University of Illinois at Springfield
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Board of Trustees University of Illinois Springfield, Case No. 2015-RC-0005-S
On February 13, 2015, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board certified the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) as the exclusive representative of the following bargaining unit at the University of Illinois at Springfield, comprised of approximately 138 faculty members:
Included: Unit1: All full time (i.e., employees who have .51 or greater appointment as a faculty member) tenure and tenure track.
Excluded: Heads, chairs and all managers, supervisors and confidential employees as defined by the Act.
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Massachusetts CERB Finds Board of Higher Education Repudiated Contract Provision by Employing More Part-Time Faculty
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Board of Higher Education, Case No. SUP-08-5396
The Massachusetts Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) issued a decision on February 6, 2015 affirming a Hearing Officer's (HO) conclusion that the Board of Higher Education (Board) engaged in an unfair labor practice by repudiating a provision of the collective bargaining agreement with the Massachusetts State College Association/MTA/NEA (Association) and a prior grievance decision concerning the employment of part-time faculty. The Board is the statutory employer for the state's nine public colleges.
Under Article XX of the contract, college departments with six or more full-time faculty are limited in the percentage of part-time faculty they may hire. However,
from academic year 2001-2002 through 2007-2008, eight colleges had academic departments in violation of the percentage limitation on the employment of part-time faculty. During contract negotiations in 2007, the Association rejected a Board proposal to delete Article XX. CERB found that despite making express commitments, the colleges persisted in employing part-time faculty beyond the negotiated limitations in the agreement.
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Update on Cases Following Pacific Lutheran University Decision
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1. Seattle University, Case No. 19-RC-122863
As we reported in the February 2015 E-Note, the National Labor Relations Board remanded Seattle University to the Regional Director for a new determination based upon the revised standards set forth in Pacific Lutheran University, 361 NLRB No. 157 (2014). In Seattle University, the school objects to NLRB jurisdiction under Catholic Bishop and asserts the at-issue non-tenure contingent faculty are managerial under Yeshiva University.
On March 3, 2015, Regional Director Ronald K. Hooks issued a supplemental decision and order in Seattle University. In the decision, Regional Director Hooks reexamined the evidence in the existing record based on the revised standards and analysis in Pacific Lutheran University.
The Regional Director concluded that while the university demonstrated that it holds itself out as a Jesuit Catholic educational institution, it failed to meet its burden of proving that it holds the petitioned-for contingent faculty members out as performing a religious function. In support of his conclusion, the Regional Director referenced the content of the faculty handbook, job postings, and faculty evaluation criteria. In addition, the Regional Director cited to the lack of evidence in the record showing that faculty members are required to serve as religious advisors, engage in religious training or conform with the institution's religious tenets.
In rejecting the university's claim that the contingent faculty were managerial, the Regional Director found that they lack authority, or effective control concerning the primary and secondary areas of decision making identified in Pacific Lutheran University.
2. Point Park University, Case No. 06-RC-01226
On February 25, 2015, the NLRB Board issued a decision remanding Point Park University to the Regional Director to take appropriate action consistent with the decision in Pacific Lutheran University, including reopening the record.
This case involves a representation petition filed by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh/CWA over a decade ago seeking to represent a bargaining unit of all full-time faculty, Conservatory of Performing Arts teaching artists, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Technology laboratory associates; excluding the president, vice presidents, associate and assistant vice presidents, deans, department chairs, and all office clerical employees, part-time faculty, other professional employees, non-professional employees and managerial employees and guards and supervisors.
During the processing of the representation petition and related litigation, the university contended that the at-issue full-time faculty are managerial under Yeshiva University.
In 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit sustained a university legal challenge to the NLRB decision to certify a bargaining unit and the case was remanded by the court to the NLRB for a fuller explanation concerning its conclusion that the faculty were not managerial.
In 2007, the Regional Director issued a supplemental decision following the remand, which reaffirmed his original decision that the at-issue faculty members are not managerial. The NLRB Board granted the university's petition for review of the supplemental decision by the Regional Director in November 2007, and later issued a notice inviting parties and amici to file briefs concerning a series of questions regarding the proper application of the factors in Yeshiva University. The NLRB Board resolved those doctrinal questions in its decision in Pacific Lutheran University, and it has now remanded Point Park University to the Regional Director to reconsider the case based on the revised standards.
3. Islamic Saudi Academy, Case No. 05-RC-080474
On February 26, 2015, the NLRB Board issued a decision remanding to the Regional Director the representation petition filed by the Islamic Saudi Academy Employee Professional Association seeking to represent teachers and non-teachers at the Islamic Saudi Academyl. The NLRB Board remanded the case to the Regional Director to determine whether the agency has jurisdiction over the petitioned-for employees at this self-identified religious school under the standards set forth in Pacific Lutheran University.
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SEIU Certified to Represent a Second Bargaining Unit at Tufts
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Trustees of Tufts College, Case No. 01-RC-142234
Following a February 12, 2015 election, SEIU was certified by the NLRB on February 23, 2015, to represent another faculty unit, which is composed of all non-tenure track full time lecturers employed at Tufts School of Arts and Sciences. Of the 94 faculty members determined to be in the unit, 52 voted in favor of unionization, 24 voted against, with one ballot voided and two challenged.
The following is the description of the newly certified faculty unit at Tufts
Unit: Including all non-tenure track full time lecturers employed in the School of Arts and Sciences, including, but not limited to, lecturers with titles of Coordinator, Course Administrator, Director, or Supervisor; and also including full-time lecturers who work for the School in other non-managerial, non-supervisory, non-confidential capacities. Excluding all other employees: tenured and tenure-track faculty; professors of the practice; non-tenure track assistant and associate professors; post-doctoral scholars; research associates; part-time lecturers; deans; provosts; department chairs; maintenance employees; full time-lecturers in Athletics, the College of Special Studies, Experimental College, the College of Engineering, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Dental School, School of Medicine, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and/or Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; guards; confidential employees; managers; and supervisors as defined in the Act. |
NLRB Certifies SEIU to Represent Faculty Unit at Boston University
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Boston University, Case No. 01-RC-139754
On February 18, 2015, the NLRB certified SEIU to represent the following bargaining unit of contingent faculty at Boston University:
All part-time graduate and undergraduate faculty (adjuncts, part-time lecturers, lecturers, part-time instructors, or instructors) employed by Boston University at its Massachusetts campuses to teach at least one credit bearing course (including hybrid and blended courses) in a degree-granting program, and who are compensated on a per course or per hour basis but excluding all tenure or tenure-track faculty; full-time faculty; visiting or contract faculty; School of Medicine faculty (except Division of Graduate Medical Sciences); School of Dental Medicine faculty; deans, provosts, administrators, program coordinators, program directors, department chairs, graduate assistants, graduate students who teach only courses pursuant to a stipend, athletic coaches and faculty who teach only on line, courses at non-Massachusetts campuses, non-degree granting courses (including the Center for Professional Education and Center for English Language and Orientation Programs), and/or courses as a teaching supervisor; all other employees employed by the University including those who teach a class or course and are separately compensated for such teaching; and managers, confidential employees, guards and supervisors as defined by the Act.
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NLRB Adopts Finding that Music School Violated NLRA by Sending Employment at Will Letters to Unionized Faculty
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Longy School of Music of Bard College, Case Nos. 1-CA-127267 and 1-CA-130489
The NLRB Board has adopted a January 2015 decision by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) finding that the Longy School of Music of Bard College violated Section 8(a)(5)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by sending letters to new faculty members, who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with the Longy Faculty Union, AFT, asking them to acknowledge that they are at-will employees subject to termination at any time. It also adopted the ALJ's conclusion that the Longy School violated Section 8(a)(5)(1) when it refused the union's request to receive the names, positions, and hiring dates of new faculty going forward.
The broader subject of negotiating with respect to music faculty will be the subject of a panel discussion at our April conference:
Music and Bargaining: Negotiating in Tune at Music Schools and Departments
Michael Scott, Professor, Harmony Department, Berklee College of Music
Matt Marvuglio, Dean, Performance Division, Berklee College of Music
Jimmy Owens, Local 802, AFM, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
Martin Mueller, Executive Director, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music
David N. Stein, Arbitrator, Moderator
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Bentley University Adjuncts Vote in Favor of Unionization
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Florida Court Rejects Challenge to New Rules for Faculty Contracts
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UFF v. Florida State Bd of Ed
A Florida appeals court has denied a challenge by United Faculty of Florida to modifications of a state administrative rule by the Florida State Board of Education substantially revising the standards and criteria for continuing contracts for full-time faculty. The challenged changes include increasing the period of satisfactory service from three to five years for a faculty member to obtain a continuing contract, and identifying specific performance criteria for determining whether to grant or terminate a continuing contract. Click here for Florida court decision.
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National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions
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