RSVP: Observe Bargaining on Fri. 1/30, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
In the past few weeks, it seems like the administration can’t stop talking about our union. They’ve been commenting on bargaining in the pages of Washington Square News, posting their own updates, and sending a variety of school- and department-level communications. We wish we could report that they’ve finally decided to engage seriously with the priorities that a majority of contract faculty voted to approve more than a year ago. Sadly, it appears that they’re doubling down on the misleading narratives and stalling tactics they’ve relied on from the start.
Read amNew York’s coverage of our fight for a fair contract.
There is no new substance in all this recent public comment, and we won’t rehash the arguments here. We should expect them to continue calling our salary demands outrageous, comparing our salaries to those at poorer institutions in cheaper cities. We continue to insist that they can afford to pay us all fair and equitable wages that reflect our contributions to NYU and the cost of living in NYC.
We should also expect them to renew their request that we enter mediation, an unnecessary step that would waste time and prevent our members from observing their own contract negotiations. We maintain that the administration could make significant progress without a mediator’s help, by promptly sharing the information they are legally required to provide, and by preparing meaningful counterproposals for our next session. They’ve got plenty of options — of 47 proposals we’re currently negotiating, 27 are in their court.
We can win the protections we deserve the same way we won our union — by showing the administration that we’re united in our demands. Two years ago, we showed them by voting to form CFU-UAW in an 89% landslide. Now, to win a strong contract, we may need to vote again.
Before the break, contract faculty from almost every department let the administration know that they’re prepared to organize their colleagues to vote “yes” in a strike authorization vote. None of us want to strike and disrupt the university, but we are tired of waiting.
Come on Friday to see how — if — the administration’s bargaining team moves. We hope, as always, that they will finally respond to the contract faculty’s clearly expressed needs. But if they keep dragging their feet, make sure they drag their feet in front of a big audience. Come to show them we’re ready to take the next step.
In solidarity,
Carley Moore, Liberal Studies
on behalf of CFU-UAW Organizing Committee
Contract Faculty United – UAW