Western faculty members protest in Miller Hall as part of a demonstration for a new contract May 12. A new contract has since been written, but is only tentative as the faculty union and Board of Trustees have yet to agree on it. photo by Michael Leese the western front

Lyne, faculty union president and English professor, said he was able to take a deep breath of relief after petitioning and protesting the time it took the administration bargaining team to settle for a fair contract with the faculty bargaining team.

However, if the Board of Trustees and the faculty union don’t vote in favor of the contract, both teams will have to continue to negotiate another one, said David Leaf, faculty bargaining team member and biology professor.

Various members of each bargaining team exchanged proposals through e-mails and in person May 23-26. The members from both teams gathered at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and bargained the remaining terms, which were grievance and arbitration, whether faculty workload is protected in the grievance and arbitration process, and faculty salaries. The faculty union will post a copy of the contract on its Web site for all faculty to review, said Steven Garfinkle, faculty union chief steward and history professor.

“I want to thank President Morse and the bargaining teams for hanging in there,” Lyne said. “Both teams should be proud we reached a good agreement. President Morse and Eileen Coughlin deserve a lot of credit because they kept thinking of different ideas on how to reach an agreement.”

The union will host a public meeting for all faculty from 3-4 p.m. June 2-3. At the meeting, faculty can make comments on and ask questions about the new contract, Garfinkle said.

“It’s not a contract that everyone is 100 percent satisfied with because everyone had to compromise to make this work,” Leaf said.

During negotiations, five issues slowed down the bargaining process: faculty salary, whether the faculty senate’s status should be contractually guaranteed, whether limited-term faculty should be given hiring and appointment priority, whether faculty’s workload needs to be contractually protected, and whether grievance and arbitration policies should continue to exist.

Grievance and arbitration policies allow faculty members to confront the administration when it has violated the faculty contract, Lyne said.

In the proposed contract, the faculty senate and grievance and arbitration policies will be contractually protected, Lyne said.  

Limited-term faculty will be given hiring and appointment priority, he said.

Limited-term faculty can earn a 7-percent salary increase when promoted to senior instructor, a new ranking that can be earned after working at Western for five years and can be approved by the department, dean and provost, said Eileen Coughlin, administration bargaining team member and vice president for student affairs and academic support services.

Faculty workloads will not increase, thus allowing faculty to have enough time to work individually with students, Lyne said. Faculty will receive a 10.5-percent salary increase beginning fall 2008 and a one-time 4-percent payment once faculty agree on the final contract, Coughlin said.

Only members of the faculty union can vote on the contract, but faculty can join the union at the ballots and vote immediately afterward, he said. Voting will be held June 4-5 and the result will be announced June 6.

“[The contract] is good for all faculty,” Garfinkle said. “There’s something in the agreement for everybody and it also protects the quality of instruction [for students] at Western.”

The Board of Trustees will vote on the contract on behalf of the administration after the faculty union members have voted, Coughlin said. The board may vote during their next meeting, which is scheduled for June 13.

“I appreciated Bill Lyne’s work throughout the weekend,” she said. “I appreciate all the hard work of the faculty’s team and the university’s team in putting together the final pieces.”

Faculty have had to refer to a handbook for guidance instead of a contract, Leaf said. While a contract is legally binding, the handbook is not and was often modified, he said. The Board of Trustees could either approve or deny any suggested changes for the handbook, Lyne said.

The faculty union slogan is,  “No contract is better than a bad contract.” Although 16 months was a long time to bargain, faculty now have a good contract, Lyne said.

“It has obviously been a long haul, but I think it was totally worth it because we have a solid contract,” Lyne said. “I’m pretty confident that the contract is going to serve the university well for a long time.”

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