RSVP to observe bargaining tomorrow, Oct. 31
On October 13, the administration’s outside lawyer wrote to us — followed quickly by a press release by John Beckman — suggesting that we and the administration hire a mediator in our negotiations. While this is not an unusual suggestion, it came earlier in the negotiations than normal. After all, the administration has barely responded to many of our demands.
We told the administration’s lawyer that we would consider her suggestion, and we have. Below is the email we sent this morning. We told the administration that while we took their suggestion seriously, we don’t need a mediator; we need them to quit stalling.
Remember, we won’t win the strong first contract we need and deserve because the eleven of us make good arguments at the table. We’ll win because everyone shows up to fight for it.
This week, we need to show the administration that contract faculty across the university stand united in demanding a strong contract. RSVP now to observe bargaining in person at 105 E 17th Street or by Zoom.
And then take the next step:
RSVP to join colleagues at an escalation training
(more are being scheduled!)
October 30, 2025
Dear Sandi and Dan:
On October 13, you wrote to suggest that the parties hire a mediator. We have carefully considered your suggestion that we enter mediation. We do not yet believe that it should be necessary to involve a mediator in order to find common ground at this time. We respectfully decline your request.
One of the major obstacles to bargaining has been the Employer’s failure to furnish information about the terms and conditions of our employment in a timely manner. As you know, we waited for more than sixteen months for responsive information about members’ research budgets or individual development accounts, and after more than sixteen months the administration continues to withhold responsive information about additional compensation. We are also still waiting for responses to other requests for information. Receipt of this crucial information depends on the employer; a mediator will not help us to receive it.
We also do not agree with the characterization of our last session that you made in your email to us on October 13 and that John Beckman repeated in a press release on October 14. The union brought fourteen counterproposals on October 10, including proposals on Academic Freedom, Data Privacy, and Grievance and Arbitration in which we made very considerable progress toward the administration’s position. In other areas, including compensation and benefits, we also made significant movement toward your position. Indeed, with only two exceptions, the only articles on which we did not counter were those which either the administration has not yet responded to or those for which we were still awaiting information in order to bargain. We were disappointed that the administration chose to bring only four counterproposals, as we are disappointed at the administration’s continued slowness in responding to our requests for information.
More than 600 days ago, we and our contract faculty colleagues voted by an overwhelming margin — 553-72 — to form a union. Four hundred days ago, we voted by an even higher margin — 99% — to ratify our bargaining demands, which we have been pursuing at the table since we started bargaining a year ago. More than 200 days ago, we presented a petition signed by a majority of contract faculty demanding strong academic freedom protections written in across our contract. Since then, a strong majority of contract faculty from every school in which bargaining unit members teach have attended bargaining sessions. Despite this, the administration has delayed in responding to requests for information, has stalled in coming to terms over core elements of our contract, and has presented only desultory responses to our economic proposals.
We hope that the administration will listen to the needs of contract faculty members across the university. We do not think we need a mediator; we need only for the administration to commit to bargain in good faith. We look forward to continuing to negotiate with you on October 31 and November 14.
In solidarity,
Richard Dorritie (Rory Meyers College of Nursing)
Elisabeth Fay (Expository Writing Program, Arts & Science)
Robin Harvey (Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt)
Thomas Hill (Center for Global Affairs, SPS)
Peter Li (General Engineering, Tandon)
Benedetta Piantella (Technology, Culture, and Society, Tandon)
Jacob Remes (Gallatin School of Individualized Study)
Chris Chan Roberson (Undergraduate Film & TV, Tisch)
Jamie Root (French Literature, Thought and Culture, Arts & Science)
Fanny Shum (Mathematics, Courant Institute)
Heidi White (Liberal Studies)