From 11:30am to 2pm yesterday, 8 Jul., on a sweltering afternoon in the middle of the Summer B term, 122 dedicated UF faculty members came out to vote on a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that the UF Board of Trustees (BoT) sought to impose. This CBA would have abolished faculty due process rights (rights, by the way, that were recently vindicated in federal court) and would have surrendered faculty members’ right to shape evaluation criteria for post-tenure review, among other harmful provisions.

In response, voters sent a clear message: 120 voted “No,” 2 voted “Yes,” and none abstained (i.e. turned in a blank ballot).

In short, members of the UFF-UF bargaining unit resoundingly rejected the BoT-imposed contract . In doing so, faculty sent a clear message: we demand a fair contract that respects our rights to due process, academic freedom, and meaningful shared governance.

Here’s what happens next:  most of our working conditions will remain the same, as they will continue to be governed by the 2021-2024 CBA. However, for working conditions governed by the articles that went to impasse, the BoT gets to impose their desired contract language. Yes, you read that sentence correctly: even though faculty just voted down the BoT-imposed CBA, the Board still gets to do what they want.

But, critically, they don’t get to do it forever! Both parties are now required to go back to the bargaining table. When the BoT arrives at the table, they will know that their contract language lacks democratic legitimacy. When your union arrives at the table, we will do so with a clear mandate to negotiate a fair contract that faculty will enthusiastically support.