April 20th, 2020 Negotiation Session
Notes contributed by Communications Committee member Dr. Ben Bunting, Humanities and Social Sciences
The OT-AAUP team proposed three article during this session: Donated Leave Bank, Labor Management Committee, and No Strike / No Lockout.
The Oregon Tech team proposed one article: Notices and Communication.
The session began with discussion of the Notices and Communication article. The Oregon Tech team changed the time limit for a response from seven days down to three to make the process more efficient. OT-AAUP asked if this time limit only applies to large-scale union issues, as opposed to private communications to/from individual faculty. The Oregon Tech team affirmed this. OT-AAUP agreed to discuss in caucus.
The next discussion was of the Labor Management Committee article. The OT-AAUP team asked why the Oregon Tech team does not want to implement this article until the CBA is in place: this would stifle the ability to discuss issues around COVID-19 and remote teaching. Oregon Tech maintains that this committee cannot discuss a CBA that does not yet exist. After OT-AAUP pointed out that there is no faculty voice on the existing COVID-19 task force. Oregon Tech argued with this, stating that there are three faculty members on the task force. OT-AAUP countered that none of these faculty are members of the bargaining unit and are either chairs or deans.
Next up for discussion was the No Strike / No Lockout article. The Oregon Tech team asked for a few clarifications, then decided to discuss in caucus.
Donated Leave Bank was the next article discussed. OT-AAUP described that this article is intended to protect junior faculty who need extended leave but don’t have access to FMLA. The Oregon Tech team asked for a number of clarifications, then agreed to discuss the article in caucus.
The next negotiation session took place on April 27th, 2020.
