Charles Conant

Negotiations continue between the Oakland University Bargaining Team and the Oakland University American Association of University Professors (OU-AAUP) with the faculty contract extended until Sept. 3.  

After three meetings since Aug. 15, negotiations over economic proposals and workload continue amidst discussions on the university’s revenue and reserves.

During the Aug. 15 session in the presence of the state-appointed mediator, the major controversies were the fixed distribution of merit scores and the universal workload proposals — both rejected by OU-AAUP. 

“The merit system generally consists of faculty members submitting an annual activity report, scoring their activities against a rubric that has been defined by their department faculty and approved by Oakland,” OU-AAUP President, Michael Latcha, said. “The department chair and dean review the submissions from across departments … the dean then assigns a percentage raise to each of the merit scores 2-5.”

Without a current cap on merit score distribution, the administration team proposed that only “10-15% of full-time faculty receive merit scores of 5 and only 20-25% receive a 4,” OU-AAUP said in its barging diary. The employer’s team formally withdrew such a proposal on Aug. 21, when the union and the administration teams met without the state-appointed mediator. 

No formal proposals were made during the meeting, however, the administration team provided a hypothetical three-year contract and the union a hypothetical five-year contract.

Appendix A (Research and Full-Time Practitioner Faculty) was tentatively agreed to include language adding the Committees on Appointments and Promotions (CAP) to re-employment/promotion reviews for research faculty. Language allowing for the possibility that research faculty be promoted was also maintained.  

The Aug. 28 session was conducted with the state-appointed mediator and the employer’s team presented a new offer that accepted the union’s workload proposal, doubled the retirement stipend for part-time special lecturers and increased funding for promotions, travel and research fellowships.   

The administration’s offer included:

• A 4% merit pool plus a one-time $1,000 lump sum payment in year one
• A 2.25% merit pool, plus a $500,000 market adjustment in year two 
• A 2.25% merit pool, plus a $500,000 market adjustment in year three
• A 2.75% merit pool in year four
• A 3% merit pool in year five 

In an Aug. 29 press release shared with The Oakland Post, OU-AAUP presented its latest proposal rejecting the universal workload proposal:

• A 4% merit raise plus a one-time $5,000 payment in year one
• A  3.75% merit raise plus a $850,000 market adjustment in year two
• A 3.50% merit raise plus a $850,000 market adjustment in year three
• A 3.25% merit raise in year four  
• A 3.25% merit raise in year five

In the same press release, “union representatives say that a strike authorization vote is likely forthcoming,” OU-AAUP said. 

“The employer has persisted in tying changes to workload policy to any significant movement on salary increases,” OU-AAUP said in its latest bargaining diary entry.

“OU backed off of that initiative long ago, and workload no longer should be an obstacle to a new contract,” the OU administration team said in its latest bargaining update. 

The next bargaining session with the state-appointed mediator is scheduled for Sept. 3, a day before classes start. The administration and the union have tentatively agreed to meet before that to continue discussions. 

For more information, visit the OU administration updates and OU-AAUP bargaining diary.