STATE OF THE UNION
Since 1976, UFF-UF has protected the rights of faculty at the University of Florida through collective bargaining. Owing to a new governing structure for Florida’s public universities adopted by the legislature in 2002, bargaining has devolved to the individual university campuses. To ensure that the rights of UF faculty under the contract would continue to be protected, UFF-UF organized both a collective bargaining campaign and a legal strategy. Both have been met with overwhelming success. The authorization card drive yielded over 72% support from the faculty, the highest at any of the 11 state universities. In the courts, UFF won the "successor employer" decision that argued the Board of Trustees are not new employers, but successor employers and any changes in salary, hours and working conditions must be negotiated with UFF. An appeal to this decision was made to the Florida Supreme Court and was rejected in July 2005.
UFF-UF is ready to bargain our first ever local contract in the Fall of 2005.
Meanwhile, at all of the other state universities, these issues have been resolved, and negotiations have taken place for new contracts. At most of these institutions, voluntary recognition of the Union was granted. Certification elections were necessary at two campuses. An election at Florida State University resulted in a 97% pro-UFF vote. Local bargaining has resulted in faculty and professional staff getting raises from their Board of Trustees, as well as from the state, leading to the largest increases in faculty pay many have ever seen.
To Join Your Union
- UFF Membership Form [MSWord Document]
