Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA, of which UCLA-FA is the UCLA chapter) President Constance Penley attended the historic National AAUP convention on June 16-18 in Arlington, VA, as the CUCFA delegate, which meant that she had an opportunity to vote on the proposed alliance between the AAUP and the AFT (AFL-CIO) and to fill six open AAUP Council seats. Read her report from the Convention at the CUCFA website.
New 2022 AAUP Survey of Tenure Practices
Tenure practices vary among institutions, however systematic studies of these practices are rare. The 2022 AAUP Survey of Tenure Practices is the first survey of its kind since 2004. It “offers a snapshot of prevailing tenure practices and policies at four-year institutions with tenure systems. Among the findings, the survey found that tenure is highly prevalent throughout US higher education, with 87 percent of four-year institutions that have a Carnegie Classification of bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral institution reporting having a tenure system.” Available online.
AAUP Amicus with NLRB re: Collective Bargaining Unit of Faculty and Staff
AAUP’s summary: “The AAUP’s brief explains that, under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), where the union’s proposed unit is given deference: (1) bargaining units that include faculty and staff employed at institutions of higher education are not categorically barred, provided that faculty members are given a mechanism to express their desires on the issue; (2) AAUP policy statements concerning academic freedom and shared governance do not preclude faculty members from deciding to be included in a unit with staff; and (3) the exclusion of tenured and tenure-track faculty from a proposed bargaining unit comprised of contingent faculty and staff does not imply that tenure-line faculty are not employees entitled to the full protections of the NLRA.” Details are online.
AAUP / AFT Affiliation Agreement
The AAUP and AFT have drafted a new affiliation agreement that will be voted on at the June AAUP meeting. Some details:
“Under the terms of this affiliation agreement, all AAUP members, by virtue of their membership in the AAUP, will also be members of the AFT/AFL-CIO… AAUP members and AAUP chapters will have access to AFT support and services, including specific AFT member benefits… This affiliation will not result in an increase in national AAUP dues and, for current AAUP members, AFT per capita will be covered as part of the AAUP dues… The national AAUP and its chapters will remain autonomous organizations with full control over their own finances, policies, programs, and staff. The national AAUP will continue to be governed by the AAUP Council; will continue to have its own committees; and will have complete autonomy over the Redbook, our policies and statements on behalf of the profession, investigations, censure, and sanction.”
This is what AAUP told CUCFA would be the effect of the affiliation to CUCFA/AAUP partner members:
“Assuming the proposed affiliation goes through at AAUP’s Biennial Meeting this June, CUCFA members will not see any appreciable change to their memberships. They will still be AAUP members, with all the rights and benefits conferred under that status and the CUCFA agreement. Their dues rate will continue to be the AAUP dues rate. They will, by virtue of being AAUP members, also become AFT members, with all the rights, privileges, etc., that go with that status. For AAUP advocacy and at-large members, which is the status that the UC members have in AAUP, their main interface remains the AAUP and their interaction with support and services will still be through the AAUP staff and leadership. They do have as “value added” access to AFT member benefits (discounts on mortgages, car purchases, etc.). But they are not required to pay any extra dues to AFT or any AFT subsidiary.”
More details (an overview of the agreement, a frequently asked questions document, and the agreement itself) are available to AAUP members on the AAUP website (member login required) at https://www.aaup.org/member-information-aaupaft-affiliation
Spotlight on Speech Codes, 2022
Fire (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has just released its yearly summary of the state of free speech at 481 public and private colleges and universities in the United States. FIRE defines free speech as “the overwhelming majority of speech protected by the First Amendment.” Few exceptions exist. The survey addresses a wide variety of issues with relevance to free speech, including:
Free Speech Zone Policies
Prior Restraints
Security Fee Policies
Policies Governing Speakers, Demonstrations, and Rallies
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Internet Usage Policies
Policies on Tolerance, Respect, and Civility
Bullying Policies
Threats and Intimidation
Harassment
Policies on Bias and Hate Speech
Obscenity
Incitement
The report is both disappointing and encouraging. It is disappointing because 86% of the institutions surveyed had some impediments to free speech, while only 12% had no impediments. UCLA, but no other UC schools, had no impediments to free speech. The report is encouraging because, for the 14th year in a row, the percentage of schools that were “red-lighted” declined (from 65% in 2012 down to 18% this year).
The report (43 pages) makes for interesting reading. We encourage you to click the link above and take a look.
Open Letter: Senate faculty support UC-AFT strike, November 17-18
UC-AFT and the UC reached a tentative agreement and the strike is cancelled. Read the details here: https://ucaft.org/content/uc-aft-teaching-faculty-reach-historic-agreement. Thanks to all who signed our letter of solidarity.
To the UCLA Community:
We the undersigned Senate faculty stand in solidarity with our fellow faculty represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). Lecturers across the UC system have been working without a contract for more than two years. They charge the university with bad faith bargaining, which is a violation of state law, and they plan to strike on November 17 and 18.
This situation is intolerable and we call on the university to reach a speedy settlement with the union. The university gladly celebrates the research and teaching skill of its lecturers, but disrespects them through delay and resistance at the bargaining table. Lecturers teach nearly one third of all classes across the UC system, but have little or no job security, and are paid much less on a per-class basis than regular faculty. Their working conditions make a mockery of the university’s claim to be an engine of social mobility and a champion of social justice. The unwillingness of the university administration to negotiate reasonable job security provisions for lecturers is a threat to all faculty and to the system of shared governance we enjoy.
We cannot continue with business as usual under these circumstances. If there is no agreement between the UC-AFT and the university, on November 17 and 18 we will support our fellow faculty in various ways such as canceling scheduled work, joining the picket lines, and raising our voices to demand a fair and equitable contract for lecturers.
Sincerely,
Tobias Higbie, History and Labor Studies
David Teplow, Neurology
Chris Zepeda-Millán, Public Policy and Chicana/o & Central American Studies
Hannah Appel, Anthropology, International Institute, Institute on Inequality & Democracy
César J. Ayala, Sociology
Christopher Erickson, Management and Organizations
Jennifer Jihye Chun, Asian American Studies
Leisy Abrego, Chicana/o & Central American Studies
Ananya Roy, Urban Planning
Abel Valenzuela, Jr., Urban Planning, Chicana/o & Central American Studies, Labor Studies
Loubna Qutami, Asian American Studies
Natalie Masuoka, Political Science and Asian American Studies
Noah Zatz, Law
Michael Meranze, History
L. Burns, Asian American Studies
Maylei Blackwell, Chicana/o & Central American Studies
Namhee Lee, Asian Languages and Cultures
Keith Camacho, Asian American Studies
Sharon Traweek, Gender Studies
Greg Wolff, History
Lee Ann Wang, AASD/SW
Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi, Asian American Studies
Maggie Thomas, Social Welfare
Laurie Kain Hart, Anthropology and Global Studies
Sanford Jacoby, History, Management, Public Policy
David Myers, History
Carla Pestana, History
Peter Stacey, History
Philippe Bourgois, Center for Social Medicine, Department of Psychiatry/Neuropsychiatric Institute, School of Medicine
Sarah Tindal Kareem, English
Shaina Potts, Geography and International Institute
Reza Ahmadi, Management
Gary Orfield, Education, Law, Political Science, Urban Planning
David Yoo, Asian American Studies
Michael Chwe, Political Science
JN Trice, FTVDM
Adding names as they come in…
UC-AFT Strike: Nov 17-18
Non-tenure faculty across the University of California voted for a two-day strike this week, November 17 and 18. UC-AFT lecturers have been working without a contract for more than two years, and they charge the university with several unfair labor practices including refusal to bargain on key issues.
Lecturers teach as much as a third of courses across the University of California. They have little or no job security, and are paid much less than faculty on a per class basis. These conditions undermine faculty welfare and threaten the future of public higher education. The UCLA Faculty Association/AAUP stands in solidarity with UC-AFT and other campus unions against UCOP’s approach to bargaining. We have seen this scenario before with other campus unions: UCOP negotiators drag the process out as long as possible, refusing to budge until political and strike pressure forces an agreement. The time has come for the university to get serious about improving conditions for all its employees, starting with the lecturers.
Individual Senate faculty are expressing support for the lecturers by pledging to honor their picket line or take other actions. You can add your name to the Pledge of Solidarity here.
An FAQ about the Unfair Labor Practices is here.
To sign up for a shift on the picket line, please click here.
Update on UC-AFT negotiations: 10/21, 7-8 PM
With a possible strike by our lecturer colleagues on the horizon this quarter, the UCLA Faculty Association invites you to a virtual town hall hosted by the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) with representatives from the lecturers’ union, UC-AFT. University administrators likely have sent you their spin about UCOP’s latest proposal to UC-AFT, but what they undoubtedly have not told you is that President Drake’s representatives have thus far refused, despite three requests from UC-AFT, to schedule a bargaining session to discuss the proposal. Take-it-or-leave-it bargaining that deprives a party of the opportunity to ask questions, achieve understanding, and present a counterproposal does not meet the legal standard of good faith. Good faith bargaining is the only way to avert a strike which everyone knows would be extremely disruptive.
This event—open to Senate faculty from all 10 UC campuses—will allow Senate faculty to hear from lecturers about UCOP’s most recent proposal and to get answers to questions you might have about UC-AFT’s contract negotiations and about a possible strike.
WHEN: Thursday October 21, 7-8pm
WHERE: Zoom – Please pre-register at: https://bit.ly/3aOH5mu
If you cannot get into the Zoom meeting because it has reached its maximum capacity, please go to the YouTube live stream of the meeting.
New Book “Understanding Academic Freedom”
Hank Reichman — professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay; former AAUP vice-president and president of the AAUP Foundation; and from 2012-2021 Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure — has just published a new book: Understanding Academic Freedom. Hank describes the book:
My purpose in writing Understanding was to provide a concise (the book is just 205 pages minus notes and index) and accessible introduction to the concept of academic freedom as practiced and preached in the U.S. (mostly by the AAUP) and an overview of both historic and contemporary challenges to it.
The book is available as a paperback and an e-book from Johns Hopkins University Press here.
Solidarity with UC Lecturers
After two years working without a contract, Unit 18 lecturers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Non-tenure lecturers affiliated with the UC-AFT (University Council-American Federation of Teachers) teach 30% of classes on UC campuses. Often they have the same training and credentials as tenure system faculty, but they have little job security, often hiring on by the course for low salaries, and forced to re-apply each year for their jobs.
Lecturers are demanding greater job security, improved salaries and benefits, and a more transparent appointment process. So far, university negotiators have not met their demands. According to UCLA lecturer Mia McIver, President of the system-wide union, “These are common-sense proposals, many of which are already in practice at the CSUs and CA Community Colleges. Teaching University of California students should not be a gig economy job, yet thousands of phenomenal lecturers lose their jobs each year. We’re calling on the UC Office of the President to invest in excellent education at the UC.” – UC-AFT President Mia McIver
The strike authorization vote does not mean a strike will happen right away. The union and UCOP are currently in mediation, a process that may be followed by a third-party fact finding report before the union may strike.
Lecturers are asking individual Senate faculty to sign a statement of solidarity and prepare for a potential strike. You can learn more about the situation at UC-AFT’s We Teach UC website. We encourage you to sign the solidarity pledge.
Faculty Associations across the system are gearing up to support lecturers. Read the statement of the Council of UC Faculty Associations below:
Dear UC Senate Faculty Colleagues,
We are UC Senate faculty and members of the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) writing to ask you to sign a Pledge of Solidarity with Our Lecturer Colleagues throughout the UC system as they negotiate a new contract.
The University of California is dependent on the 6,800 lecturers it employs: they teach one-third of undergraduate hours across the system, and on some campuses more than half. Three out of four lecturers work on short-term contracts with no job stability, no fair and consistent evaluation process, and no contractual assurance that they’ll be considered for renewal. Their median annual salary is $19,067, even as UC campuses are located in regions with some of the highest costs of living in the country. Most departments would not be able to mount their curricula without the skilled labor of these dedicated educators.
The quality of undergraduate education at the University of California depends upon ALL of its faculty, lecturers included. Our lecturer colleagues’ precarious working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.
We support the lecturers’ fight to strengthen job stability, improve wages and benefits, and ensure fair compensation and workload that reflects their training, experience, and contributions to the UC. Stabilizing the teaching workforce would not only be fair and just, it also would benefit UC students who deserve this investment in high-quality education. (For more information, see UC-AFT’s campaign website.)
For the first time in over 20 years, and after 2 years of negotiations, our lecturer colleagues, represented by UC-AFT, have voted with an overwhelming majority of 96% to authorize a strike. As Senate faculty, we stand in solidarity with them.
The Pledge linked to below lays out a number of actions you can take, including honoring the lecturers’ picket line should they go out on strike. The signatories to this letter are not calling on Senate faculty to vote to strike. Rather, we want to inform you that we have a free speech and HEERA-protected right to honor our lecturer colleagues’ picket line (see FAQ).
Please click HERE to read and sign the pledge, checking the boxes indicating how you will stand in solidarity.
For more information, click on this FAQ, contact CUCFA or your Faculty Association, and check out UC-AFT’s campaign website.
With appreciation and in solidarity,
CUCFA Executive Board