Lay-offs, merit raises, and other Machenations

Dear Colleague,

As we get ready to begin the new academic year, I write to bring you up to date on the issues that face the faculty and on what the Union has been doing on your behalf. We have, throughout the summer, continued to press the administration to

*Reverse the unjustifiable lay-offs of outstanding tenure-track faculty

*Agree to a reward system that will replace administrative caprice with objective measures of long-term merit, tied to national standards and practices

*Consult faculty on important policy decisions, as required by law, university regulations, and the traditions of academia

*Abandon its autocratic and high-handed attitude, and to tell the truth to the faculty, the students, and the public

Lay-offs

In May, President Machen claimed that the University was forced by adverse financial circumstances to lay off a number of our colleagues, including some outstanding tenure-track faculty. The Union challenged that claim, demanding that the administration show that there was no alternative to such draconian action. We continued to press our case throughout the summer, during which time it became clear that, just as we had said all along, the administration had ample resources at its disposal for dealing with what are undeniably real financial difficulties in a less damaging way. First, we discovered that UF had a hundred and thirty million dollars in unrestricted funds it could spend in any way it chose. (I remind you that the savings from the laying off of the four tenure-track faculty would amount -- in 2009-10 ! -- to only a little over two hundred thousand dollars.) The administration's response was that it had other uses in mind for the money. It then gave the same reason for its refusal to accept the CLAS Faculty Council's plan to use funds made available through resignations and retirements. By summer's end, it openly conceded that the real reason for the lay-offs, department mergers, and program eliminations in its budget plan had nothing to do with financial considerations. It now admits that these measures were driven by a "strategic plan," one, however, on which the faculty and its legitimate representative bodies were never consulted and which to this day remains hidden. Should you wonder what that plan may have in store for you?

Fighting over Scraps

President Machen's so-called merit raises are yet another example of his administration's hypocrisy and contempt for the faculty. By referring to this meager increase as "a merit raise" the Administration would have us overlook the fact that there is no coherent, objective, and transparent system in place by which to determine merit, leaving these proposed raises as discretionary in all but name. The Union has proposed such a rational system, but the Administration has not been willing to discuss it, even though it is required by law to negotiate any raise before putting it is put into effect. Instead, it has chosen to press ahead without an agreement, in clear violation of the law. It is forcing colleges, departments, and departmental committees to operate ad hoc, using a discredited process that is subjective at best, and political at worst. It is a process that has, over the years, resulted in the haphazard and anomalous status quo on salaries, with its widespread compression, inversion and other inequities. Continuing on the same path is bound to make the already accelerating brain drain even worse.

The Union's proposal, put forward in collective bargaining, would recognize and reward merit systematically, objectively, and automatically and would begin to bring our lagging salaries up to nationally prevailing levels. If you meet the criteria for a merit increase, you get it: no provost, dean, chair, or committee can play politics with what you have earned. The administration prefers not to have such a system and would keep pitting us against each other to fight for a few of its cynically offered scraps.

Sabbaticals and SPPP

The administration is adopting the same tactics with respect to sabbatical leaves. These, too, must be negotiated with the Union, yet just this week the administration announced its own plan for awarding them, requiring departments and colleges to conform to it.

The SPPP (the Senior Professor Pay Plan) was created to award an automatic raise to all senior faculty who meet certain specified performance criteria. Now the administration concedes that "not all deserving candidates have received this raise." Why not? Because the administration has, once again, made this program into one over which it can retain control so as to advance its agenda. It has denied the raise to faculty it admits deserve it, and it has illegitimately interfered with the process even to the extent of reversing rankings by departmental and college committees (which should not have been required in the first place).

What next?

As I said, UF has substantial reserve funds it could use to avoid lay-offs and other damaging cuts to academic programs if it chose. While FSU and USF have both decided to draw on similar funds for that purpose, our administration has consistently refused to do so.

Instead of working with the Union on a fair and transparent salary structure, the administration continues to maneuver to retain full control of a reward system shrouded in secrecy, one that suits its purposes even as it leaves loyal and deserving faculty cheated. (By contrast, FSU's Board of Trustees and UFF-FSU have come to an agreement on salary increases. Faculty there will receive a 3% cost of living adjustment, with an additional 1% available for discretionary raises.)

We must not acquiesce in these un-collegial and short-sighted actions by the administration. The Union will continue to challenge them with every legitimate means available to it. We stand for fairness to, and respect for, the faculty, recognition of long-term merit, transparency, proper consultation, and the long-term welfare of the University. If you are a member, I thank you for your continuing support. If you are not, I hope you will consider joining us now that your voice is needed more than ever.

Please visit our website at www.uffacultycontract.org. There you can print and fill out a membership form.

If you believe that any of your rights have been violated, we encourage you to contact our Grievance Coordinator, Prof. Jane Brockmann at 376-0473, at 392-1297, or at hjanebrockmann@bellsouth.net.

Sincerely,

John Biro, President
United Faculty of Florida
238 Norman Hall, PO Box 117055
Phone: 392-0274
Email: president@uff-uf.org