Orlando Sentinel Reports on UCF Faculty Raises and Bargaining Results

by | Apr 17, 2019 | Bargaining

A new Orlando Sentinel article today covers our recent UCF faculty raises finalized by the UFF-UCF Bargaining Team on March 21.

On that date, the 26th bargaining session of the current contract negotiations, our faculty raises were agreed to and signed into place, even before the rest of our contract has been finalized. This is thanks to a process rarely – if ever – used before in UCF negotiations: an early memorandum of understanding, or MOU.

Led by UFF-UCF Chief Negotiator Dr. Jennifer Sandoval, and reviewed by UFF-UCF labor attorney Richard Siwica, our Bargaining Team secured the MOU before the rest of the contract is to be finalized in future sessions. This ends months of waiting by faculty members to know their current salaries. Included in the MOU are both the raises and one-time bonuses of $2,250 in May, in lieu of back pay for the raises.

“In this year of constant change and uncertainty, we especially appreciate the BOT representatives for their continued engagement in good faith bargaining,” said Sandoval. “Reaching the agreement process and regarding salary is a positive step forward in our ongoing work on the new contract. We also thank the UCF administration, specifically Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Elizabeth A. Dooley, for making faculty compensation a priority.”

The article notes the agreement will cost UCF up to $14.25 million in total, and suggests the Board of Trustees were not initially pleased with the arrangement. UCF’s Associate General Counsel and Associate Provost, Sherry Andrews, defended the agreement, citing the tone of recent negotiations.

Some trustees questioned whether they should approve the raises before the university and faculty union had come to an agreement on other areas of the contract. But Andrews said the union had been cooperative, and “there is something to be said for rewarding good behavior.”

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“I do think we have achieved most not all but the vast majority of our strategic objectives in this negotiation,” Andrews said. “I do not think withholding this raise would get us anything of significance that we haven’t already gotten.”

Read the full article by Annie Martin here (Orlando Sentinel). Learn more about our faculty raises and bonus here (UFF-UCF). Our 2019 UFF-UCF Bargaining Team includes Jennifer Sandoval (Bargaining Chair and Chief Negotiator), Yovanna Pineda, John Raible, John Fauth.

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United Faculty of Florida and UCF Announce Salary Raises for Faculty

by | Mar 29, 2019 | Bargaining

On Friday, March 29, the office of Elizabeth A. Dooley, UCF Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, released an email announcement (below) that the University of Central Florida and the United Faculty of Florida have reached a two-year agreement to provide faculty with a one-time Spring semester payment, and a Fall salary increases.

The agreement covers the fiscal years of 2018-2019, which began months ago, and 2019-2020. This is the first agreement in anyone’s recent memory to cover multiple years.

UCF faculty members will receive a one-time bonus of $2,250 on May 10. Starting with the August 23 pay period, faculty members will receive a 2 percent salary increase, and in 2019-2020 year, an additional pay guaranteed increase of 1.25 percent starting with the Sept. 20 pay period, and likely another 1.25 percent salary increase in the same pay period, provided the university is fiscally stable.

UFF-UCF’s bargaining team is led by chief negotiator Dr. Jennifer Sandoval with assistance from treasurer Dr. Yovanna Pineda, John Raible, Dr. John Fauth, Dr. Mason Cash. and president Scott Launier.

“It has been my privilege to work with this incredible group of volunteers tirelessly representing the interests of faculty during our negotiations,” said Sandoval, associate professor and program coordinator for Communication and Conflict with the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. “We thank the BOT representatives for their continued engagement in good faith bargaining this year during a time of constant change and uncertainty. Collaboration on the MOU regarding salary is a positive step forward in our ongoing work on the new contract. We also thank the UCF administration, specifically Provost Dooley, for making faculty compensation a priority.”

Bargaining is not over, as the university and our union negotiators continue hashing out the broader collective bargaining agreement for 2018-2021. The United Faculty of Florida bargaining team represents more than 1,670 employees at UCF.

Submitted by: Dr. Briant K. Coleman, Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Communications and Marketing
Submitted for: Dr. Elizabeth A. Dooley, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Subject line: An important announcement on faculty pay raises
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Faculty are key to UCF’s academic vitality and progress, and I am pleased that the university and the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) have reached a two-year agreement to provide pay increases for our talented and dedicated faculty members.
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This agreement follows months of negotiations, and I commend our university bargaining team and the UFF representatives in finding common ground so that we can continue a path forward while acknowledging the important role of faculty members at our great university. Pay agreements involving our faculty are normally reopened each year for negotiation. The new agreement covers the fiscal years of 2018-19 and 2019-20 and better addresses faculty pay raises for this fiscal year that had been pending based on the outcome of negotiations.
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Under this agreement, eligible UCF faculty members will receive:
* a one-time payment of $2,250 on May 10;
* a 2 percent salary increase starting with the Aug. 23 pay period;
* and an additional pay increase of 1.25 percent beginning with the Sept. 20 pay period.
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Also, depending on whether additional recurring funds are available, eligible salary members will receive an additional pay increase of 1.25 percent starting in the same Sept. 20 pay period. The joint news release on the agreement from the UCF administration and the UFF can be found here: https://provost.ucf.edu/campus/pay-raises-for-faculty/
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UCF has undergone a challenging chain of events this semester. But our focus does not waver on advancing UCF as a model university for the 21st Century for teaching, research, innovation, inclusion and student success. A strong and vibrant faculty is critical for achieving this mission, and we will continue to champion our faculty in moving our university forward.
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I appreciate the support of Interim President Thad Seymour in reaching this pay agreement. And I particularly want to thank the members of the UCF administration and UFF negotiating teams for their tireless efforts to elevate our university through good-faith bargaining.
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Members of the administration team are Michael Mattimore, chief negotiator; Sherry Andrews; Charlie Piper; Dr. Charles Reilly and Dr. Ross Wolf. UFF’s bargaining team members are Dr. Jennifer Sandoval, chief negotiator; Dr. Mason Cash; Dr. John Fauth; Scott Launier; Dr. Yovanna Pineda and John Raible.
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Together, we are always better – and stronger. And I look forward to other fruitful negotiations as the two teams navigate remaining issues on the collective bargaining agreement for 2018-21.
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Elizabeth A. Dooley
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

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Union Keeps Working for a Viable Contract

by | Feb 22, 2019 | Bargaining

Our faculty union returns to the bargaining table this morning.  Listen to the audio around minute 20 to hear
Chief Negotiator Jen Sandoval present a master class in how to argue for upholding faculty rights to non-reappointment.

A picture of John Raible (left) and Charlie Piper (right) looking together at a laptop screen.

Bargaining team member John Raible & UCF administrator Charlie Piper working together
to come to an agreement on Article 12 — Non-Reappointment, and Article 13 — Layoffs and Recall.

A picture of UFF-UCF Chief Negotiator Jennifer Sandoval signing a tentative agreement to Article 12.

We have signed a Tentative Agreement on Article 12 — Non-Reappointment, and Article 13 — Layoffs and Recall!
Our team has successfully protected faculty non-reappointment rights.  And for the first time ever, auxiliary funded employees will have contractual rights to non-reappointment notice.  Thank you Bargaining Team!

Additional items of note:

  • We offered a creative 2-yr salary package that the administration is considering
  • We reached agreement to keep Article 8–Appointment status quo with an automatic reopener for future negotiation
  • We are close to agreeing on near status quo language for Article 16- Discipline;  Article 18–Inventions and Works; and Article 24–Benefits

 

Chronicle of Higher Education Includes UFF-UCF in Coverage of University’s Financial Scandal

Chronicle of Higher Education Includes UFF-UCF in Coverage of University’s Financial Scandal

by | Feb 21, 2019 | News

Chronicle of Higher Education includes UFF-UCF in coverage of financial scandal at UCF

The crisis at Central Florida has further strained relations between administrators and some of the university’s unionized faculty members. For them, this isn’t a byzantine story about a university’s tapping the wrong pot of money for a building in violation of some obscure regulation. It’s the story of an administration willfully taking money that should have gone to faculty salaries, all the while poor-mouthing to the union in collective-bargaining sessions.
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“The faculty-union position is that we are not anywhere near the bottom of this,” said Scott Launier, president of the university’s chapter of the United Faculty of Florida. “We’ve known for years that we’ve been lied to about how much money there was to compensate and provide for faculty.”
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Launier found a tongue-in-cheek reason to be upbeat about the unfolding story.
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“Every year, the university has said, ‘We would like to give you more money, but we don’t have it,'” said Launier, a writing and rhetoric instructor. “It is nice that they have finally changed that narrative, and they have finally said, ‘We have the money, we just don’t want to give it to you.’ At least we’re having an honest conversation.”

Read the whole article here.

 

Brevard Teachers Rallied for Competitive Pay

by | Feb 2, 2019 | News

Brevard County teachers, students, support staff, parents, firefighters, letter carriers, machinists, and community members rallied in front of the School Board of Brevard County in support of competitive wages for Brevard’s public schoolteachers and support staff. The board room filled up quickly, with both overflows being opened. People lined the walls and sat on the ground, and some people who came to the public meeting were even turned away.

Brevard’s teachers are above average in performance, second in experience in the state, yet are paid $1,103 below the state average. A spokesperson for the district cited security as a reason why teachers were not getting a competitive pay offer. “The idea that teachers should have to choose between a living wage and the safety of their classrooms is a shame,” said Vanessa Skipper, Vice President of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.

All districts received the same FEFP funding from the state and many have already given their employees a raise that keeps up with inflation, and in many cases, exceeds it. “We passed the half cent tax to help with many aspects of school security. Not only has it added funds for this purpose, but the funds generated have come in at higher than expected. The idea that there isn’t money to give us a raise that is competitive with our contiguous and comparable counties is inaccurate,” said Anthony Colucci, President of the Brevard Federation of Teachers.