University of Michigan Lecturers' Employee Organization members will vote on a new deal with the University. An agreement with the union, representing 1,800 non-tenure track lecturers, was reached on Friday after six months of negotiation. Results of the vote will be available on May 10.
Union leadership is recommending that union members agree to the deal. It requires a majority vote for official ratification.
“In addition to salary increases, the contract includes increased job security and workload protections, an international lecturers assistance fund, increased professional development funds, and an extension of retirement benefits to our most precarious workers, among other provisions,” LEO said in a statement.
Kristen Herold is a lecturer in the School of Public Health at the Ann Arbor campus and the LEO president. She said a strike would compound “turmoil” at Ann Arbor, and hurt students during finals week. “A lot of our members, to be honest, were reluctant to strike precisely because there's so much else going on that adding our piece would be throwing fuel on the fire,” she said.
A strike now would be “extremely stressful for our students,” said Herold.
What’s In the Deal?
The union said the deal includes:
- A 27% increase for union members on the Ann Arbor campus over four years (with 8% in year one, 6% in years two and three, and 5% in year four);
- A 12% salary increase for Dearborn/Flint union members (3% per year) with lump sum payments of 3% and 2% in years one and two (prorated based on the amount of work a lecturer does) and a $1,000 lump sum in year four;
- A $1,800 longevity lump sum for 16 years of employment;
- The right to potentially re-open negotiations for Dearborn/Flint payment increases in years three and four if enrollment increases 10% in the first two years;
- An increased professional development funds;
- The ability for new employees to request a one-month salary advance at the beginning of the fall semester;
- The ability for union lecturers to hold a primary investigator title for grant applications;
- Expanded access to University retirement matching;
- Clearer workload standards and a pilot program that allows members to give evaluations to supervisors;
- The ability to request private office space with a computer and other materials; and
- Visa support assistance funds for international members.
Herold expressed happiness with the deal. “We're proud of what we were able to achieve, and we did get better raises ... in Dearborn and Flint than we thought originally,” she said. She also pointed to expanded retirement matching and professional development as improvements in the new contract.
Still, Herold felt raises for Dearborn and Flint lecturers didn’t match inflation and cost of living. “That's a reflection of, frankly, the financial situation on those campuses, the loss of students, and also the siloed budgets of the three campuses,” she said.
She said that although LEO bargains with one employer, “the budget situations on the three campuses are just very different, and there was not a willingness for Ann Arbor to help out the two campuses,” referencing Dearborn and Flint. She called for discussion with the state on “a more fair system of state allocations” as a potential solution that would help lecturers at those two campuses.
In a statement, Ellen Grachek, the university's chief negotiator and director of academic labor relations said, “We are pleased to reach an agreement that recognizes the essential contributions of lecturers across all three campuses and provides fair compensation over the next four years."
Editor's note: U of M holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
