Report for SUNYLA: September 2018
Jason Torre, UUP
On September 5, 2018 UUP members ratified a new contract between UUP and New York State. During negotiations both parties agreed that certain issues were of such import that they warranted further review and discussion in post-contract Executive Level Committees comprised of state-level representatives from UUP, SUNY, and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. Librarian issues and distribution of negotiated money to address salary compression are among the matters to be discussed at the state level. As soon as possible this fall, UUP will begin preparations for meetings with the state. UUP cannot predict the timeline for each Executive Level Committee at this point, but the salary compression work is the first priority.
Salary Compression
The new contract mandates that one-half of the on-base discretionary pool at each campus in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 be used to address salary compression. UUP and NYS are obligated to meet at the Executive Level to develop the guidelines and methodology that will be used at each campus. There must be an objective analysis of bargaining unit member salaries to determine where salary compression exists.
This new provision is meant to address UUP members’ concerns, voiced across campuses for many years, related to salary disparities within departments, units, academic disciplines and professional fields.
Here’s the key language from the Appendix A-41 in the 2016-22 contract:
“The executive-level committee shall develop guidelines and methodology for analyzing salary compression and/or inversion at each campus utilizing multiple regression analysis and/or other appropriate methods. The campuses shall apply the developed guidelines and methodology to determine the extent to which salary compression and/or inversion exists at each campus. The results of each campus analysis shall be reviewed and considered by each College President in distributing discretionary salary increases for 2019-2022 to full-time and part-time employees to remedy identified compression and/or inversion. The adopted guidelines and methodology shall be applied to address equity issues at each campus separately, and base salary adjustments shall be made from available funding allocated to each campus.”
The first step in the process will be a statewide Executive Level Committee meeting to reach agreement on process, timetable, and other procedural matters. UUP will develop avenues for member involvement for input and monitoring at the chapter level.
Librarians’ Issues
The Appendix A-48 (Executive Level Committee on Librarians’ Issues) language from the last contract was preserved in the new one, which notes that Librarian titles, obligation, protected time, and compensation will be discussed at the Executive Level. In addition, A-48 was expanded to hone in on specific issues.
Below is an outline of the individual items UUP has put forth to the state in response to questions that arose during the contract ratification campus visits made by Negotiations Team members this past summer. These issues and related responses are general understandings and proposals we have not yet reached agreement on with the state, though discussions occurred in the context of contract negotiations.
Existing protected time policies will be reviewed. This will include reviewing:
• How the Joint L-M Committee Calendar Year Employee Leave Program could be better promoted for use by Librarians for research and scholarship leaves.
• Data collected by both parties on protected time, including but not limited to campus’ promotion and tenure requirements for librarians and previous survey data.
SUNY will also issue a letter to all campuses clarifying the following:
• That individual campus administrations have the option to appoint librarians to either academic year or a calendar year appointments. This would be the first time we have a clear statement about that in writing from SUNY.
o During contract ratification visits, members raised clarifying questions regarding the nature and timing of appointments. UUP will investigate and discuss these questions with SUNY.
• That individual campuses administrations have the option to appoint librarians to either librarian titles or to corresponding general professor titles for academics.
o During contract ratification visits and at the SUNYLA spring meeting, concerns were raised over potential abuse of the above understanding and the potential to further divide employees or create different librarian systems. It is UUP’s position that librarians are academics and will remain so under this provision, however, we will investigate and discuss these concerns with SUNY.
Contract negotiations are a two-way street and both sides need to agree on particular steps to resolve each matter of concern. Because of discussions during contract negotiations, both sides agreed, as reflected in Appendix A-48, that more work needs to be done to resolve concerns and different positions taken by UUP and the State. Members who are interested in serving in an advisory capacity to assist UUP officers in their preparation for upcoming state level discussions are encouraged to contact their campus UUP Chapter President. Members can also send questions, comments and suggestions to UUP at contract@uupmail.org. The negotiations process doesn’t end with ratification of a new contract. Implementation is just as important, and we encourage all members to actively participate in advocating for our rights and for the SUNY system we are all so committed to.
