Updates

February 14, 2022-Update on New State Retirement Rule Affecting Emeritus Faculty

There is a new State retirement rule by which faculty risk losing retirement benefits if they perform even unpaid service – such as sitting on graduate thesis/dissertation committees – for some months after retirement. Over 40 faculty at UF are affected and many more graduate students.

Please note that regardless whether the State or UF implements this rule in any form, it would be a breach of our Collective Bargaining Agreement’s Article 25 on Benefits.

Read the full update here.

January 20, 2023-Update on Speaker Renner’s Request for Information Related to DEI Faculty

In recent days, UFF-UF leaders have heard from faculty regarding a memo requesting information from Florida House Speaker Paul Renner about Faculty DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) committees. Please keep us informed about developments in your unit related to the information-gathering process.

The questionnaire, developed by UF in response to the Speaker’s request and shown to us by UF administrators, asks for the names and job titles of employees serving on DEI committees, and all communications to or from DEI faculty committees that contain or reflect assessments, proposals, or recommendations relating to DEI. Communications, as defined by the memo, include all written or electronic communications, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and social media messages.

Read the full update here.

December 23, 2022-Salary Raises Ratification Results

We are pleased to report that University of Florida and P. K. Yonge faculty voted in favor of ratifying the salary raise agreements reached by your union and the Board of Trustees on Monday, December 12th. 114 faculty voted yes and 3 voted no. An additional 3 invalid ballots were cast. Review the results for both UF faculty and P. K. Yonge faculty here.

November 30, 2022-Bargaining Updates on Salary Negotiations: November 28th – December 12th, 2022

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for your bargaining team! Read two updates here.

October 27, 2022-Bargaining Update on Status of Salary Negotiations

Since April of this year, your Union Bargaining Team has engaged in tenacious negotiations with the Board of Trustees Bargaining Team. We offered several proposals designed to maintain your current level of compensation in the face of the unprecedented increases in the cost of living and inflation we are all experiencing. Despite having given administrators 8% or more in annual raises over the past 3 years, the BOT offered a draconian take-it or leave-it 3% merit raise for faculty.

The BOT and “Merit”

Recognizing the dire economic situation, the Florida Legislature gave state employees, excluding higher education, 5.38% across-the-board raises. The boards of trustees at other Florida system universities gave across-the-board raises of 3-5%, or more. UF’s BOT does not care about our faculty’s well-being, ignoring that faculty enabled UF to skyrocket to its top-5 national rank. Instead, UF’s BOT insists on “merit” raises, which historically benefit the friends of the Administration and disproportionately reward those with the highest salaries. The 3% merit raise offered by the BOT is based on the total salary pool of the faculty, establishing the total dollar amount to be distributed. Administrators may then, for example, assign a 9% raise to some and a 0% raise to others. Even if a 3% merit raise is assigned to each of two faculty members, the lower-paid one will receive a small total-dollar raise, while the higher-paid person will receive a higher amount. Cost of living and inflation increases are roughly the same for everyone in dollar amounts; a loaf of bread or gallon of gas costs the same for everyone. But the total cost is a much more significant percentage of a low-paid person’s income than a higher-paid person. Studies show the disproportionate effect of cost of living and inflation increases on those with lower income, and the “merit” system only exacerbates that inequity.

Fair Raise Proposal 

After several union proposals, starting with a 7% across the board raise, the union has now advanced an equity or fair raise proposal that costs UF the same in total dollars as their “merit” proposal. UFF-UF’s proposal distributes funds across the board according to a salary schedule: a lower-paid faculty will get a higher percentage raise than a highly paid peer. Most faculty would receive raises that might otherwise be denied based on the merit-raise process’s fuzziness and advisory nature. Those in the worst financial shape will be better able to protect their families in these challenging times. Yes, our proposal still lags behind the cost of living and price-index increases. It is a modest but fair proposal that is cost-neutral to the BOT. It is a reasonable compromise. However, in a show of extraordinary stubbornness, the BOT has rejected our equity proposal.

Next steps

Your union is investigating all remaining options to continue to seek a fair raise agreement, expecting that the BOT will meet its obligation to offer adequate compensation to its faculty employees. We are considering multiple options, because we believe the BOT is not negotiating in good faith. We are also sensitive to the need for a timely resolution of the negotiations. Some of us may prefer to receive the BOT’s 3% merit raise soon and see an end to the negotiation process. Unfortunately, this implies that many in need could get a 0% raise or an insignificantly slight pay increase.

This is a difficult time, but we are fighting to counter the BOT’s lack of respect for the dignity of UF faculty. We ask for your support and patience. When all available options are clear, we look forward to surveying the membership to learn about your preferences and opinions.

August 10, 2022-Bargaining Sessions from 2020 Through 2022 Online

Unlike the Board of Trustees’ Presidential Search Committee, your union believes in transparency. Recordings of most bargaining sessions from 2020 through July 2022 are now published in our bargaining archive.

August 7, 2022-Faculty Working Conditions Survey Results!

Beginning in 2013, UFF-UF surveyed faculty to assess working conditions on campus. These surveys are intended, in part, to fill the vacuum left by the university’s decision to discontinue and/or censor faculty evaluations of administrators.

UFF-UF remains committed to amplifying the voices of faculty and ensuring administrators are held to account for the working conditions they set on campus. As such, another survey was conducted in 2022. You can review the results here.

August 7, 2022-Read UFF-UF’s Position Faculty Salary Negotiations

The Bargaining Committee is currently fighting for reasonable and equitable salary increases for faculty in the bargaining unit. Unfortunately, Tigert Hall continues to disingenuously plead poverty in an effort to avoid fairly compensating UF’s hardworking faculty. 

You can read the union’s position on, and arguments for salary increases here.

Bargaining archive (link)

updated 8/8/22

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