Our Contract

Our bargaining team has been negotiating a new contract for months. They have reached agreements on many points, but the governor hasn't yet made us a fair basic economic offer on salaries. Other unions are getting 5-6%, when you consider their "steps", but we're being told to accept 3.5% -- and to consider part of that "merit pay". Given that inflation has been running at around 3.5% it means that we're actually accepting a pay cut -- unless you've been "meritorious" and then you get to keep your buying power flat. I wrote a brief note to the governor:

As a UMass Amherst faculty member, I appreciated when you spoke about being a champion of higher education -- and I have been pleased with your willingness to support an open and honest dialog about the future of the University, rather than to let the current Board of Trustees run roughshod over our governance structures. Thank you. Unfortunately, the bargaining team for my union (which supported you in the primary) has been struggling to negotiate a fair contract with your administration and tells us that the economic offer to us is not comparable with the offers given to NAGE and SEIU. Faculty fared particularly poorly under Republican administrations and we had hoped to get a fair deal from a Democrat. Please help us settle our contract before the beginning of the academic year by giving us a fair offer. Thanks!