Our most recent Bargaining in Brief was held on Wednesday, June 12. As we have previously presented to our members, our proposal was for raises averaging 8.7% each year, for three years. Considering how inflation can eat into our earnings, we also proposed a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), indexed to the annual Consumer Price index, which would add between 1.5% and 4.0% to our salaries based on the inflation rate. 

Our demands are based on the fact that we have been underpaid over the last 10 years, a decade during which our across the board raises averaged 1.25% and we have fallen far behind inflation. And secondly on the fact that the University can easily afford our demands, given its annual $60 million profit (an average of $58m each year over the last 10 years)a nd $300 million in unrestricted reserves.

We received the first counteroffer from the administration last week. Their proposal for our raise increases are 4%, 3%, and 2% for years 1, 2, and 3 of the contract, which average out to about 3% per year (the administration also proposed bands for raises according to salaries, so the average may not be exactly 3%). They further suggested that healthcare premiums could be raised 5%, that deductibles could triple, and that co-pays would increase. The net effect of these costs reduces even further their proposed raises to our salaries, which are already far below what we have asked for.

As we have said many times, the University has underpaid us with average across the board raises of only 1.25% over the last 10 years, and the University is in a very strong financial position (partly because of not paying us fairly) as proclaimed by the administration itself and by independent agencies like Moody’s. It is time for this administration to prioritize what makes this University go, what allows it to be awarded its many grants, what allows it to have a high reputation, and what attracts students to come here. It is not the administration. The faculty and academic staff are the heart of this institution, and it is high time we were rewarded fairly for our labor.