I Got a Mention!

Published in full from the Emerald:

The Graduate Teaching Fellowship Federation, or GTFF, is feeling increasingly frustrated with the University as negotiations to update its contract have dragged on since November. But now the process is nearing its boiling point, with some GTFF members considering doing anything they can short of a strike to receive their requests.

The GTFF's lead negotiator, David Cecil, said the main disagreements between the two bargaining groups center on the issues of health care, University fees and salaries.

"The frustration level and stand-still level is increasing every time we meet," said Cecil.

The University, which is facing budget issues this year, hopes to reach an agreement that is both fair to the GTFs and affordable to the University, said Linda King, the University bargaining team's lead negotiator.

Cecil said the GTFF feels that the main area of contention between the two parties is the proposed modification to its health care plan. Currently, the plan limits the members' annual benefits to $100,000 per year, which the GTFF considers too low.

According to the GTFF newsletter, the GTFF requested that the annual cap be raised to $500,000 next year and $1 million the year after.

The two parties are still in the bargaining process over this and other issues. King said the cost of health care increases each year without making any changes to the plan, and that the University has already proposed to cover that increase in the current plan. What they are negotiating now, she said, is to what extent the plan's benefits will be improved - one of the benefits being the GTFF's proposed cap increase.

Cecil said in the past two bargaining sessions, the University has said it cannot offer any additional money for health care, but money that has already been allocated can be moved around.

"We don't want to give up salaries and fees for health care because then our health is held hostage," said Cecil.

Both parties left the last meeting agreeing to work harder to come to a compromise, said Cecil.

If in the next bargaining session, on April 21, the University does not change its proposal to allow for an increase in the maximum annual health care benefits, Cecil said that the GTFF's next step will be to move "to take action on the street."

The GTFF has already begun discussing ways to amend its bylaws to make it easier to vote for a strike, though Cecil said it is not likely it will come to that.

Short of an actual strike, which cannot legally take place until September, there are other actions the GTFF can take to show the University both that it is serious about its proposals and that it is important to the University, said Cecil.

Possible actions include an A-strike, where the GTFs give every student an A, creating havoc among the adminisration; or a credit-strike, where the GTFs only register for the minimum nine credits required, losing the University a lot of money because they pay for the GTFs to take 16 credits.

Cecil said these are options that have been explored by other Universities, but that the GTFF has not formally discussed taking any of these actions yet.

"Monday is going to be a really big day," said Cecil, who also admits that the University feels that the GTFF is unwilling to compromise.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement, the GTFF's contract with the University, was written in the 1970s and is re-negotiated every two years, said Marian Friestad, the vice provost for graduate studies.

The next bargaining session will be held on April 21 at 11 a.m. in the EMU's Rogue Room.