The Michigan State University Union of Tenure-System Faculty, who are currently in negotiations with the university, is alleging that the administration has violated the proper negotiating procedures between the two parties.
Those violations, according to the UTSF President, have resulted in faculty grievances going unaddressed and adjustments to the process for salary increases — the latter of which has caused the union to shift their negotiation timeline to focus on this sole issue, rather than a complete contract.
The union is alleging that MSU violated the “status quo," or the existing terms and conditions of employment at the time a union is officially recognized, when the university made changes to the faculty grievance procedure and process for salary increases, citing legal advice from the general counsel. Under Michigan’s Public Employment Relations Act for public universities, MSU is prohibited from making unilateral changes to policies and procedures about subjects of bargaining during the period of negotiations for an initial contract.
“It's to protect the union and protect the employees,” UTSF President NiCole Buchanan said. “To make sure that the employer is not creating a series of changes in that middle time frame that disadvantage employees.”
In the months following UTSF’s formal recognition by the university, Buchanan said she started hearing concerns regarding salary raises.
Other concerns relayed by faculty included summer salaries and changes to how faculty submit grievances to the Faculty Grievance & Dispute Resolution Office (FGO), which prompted UTSF to hold a meeting with MSU administrators to discuss these alleged status quo violations.
Shifted timelines
During the meeting last week, Buchanan said she was made aware that MSU had unilaterally decided to pause academic governance activities on salary recommendations, with the expectation that the university would negotiate salaries directly with the union. Buchanan was especially troubled with the timing of the decision: within two days of the UTSF’s recognition.
“They clearly had this ready to go, and they were already putting this into place at the point of our formal recognition,” she said. “Our argument is that this is absolutely a violation of status quo, because it should have continued in the manner that it was supposed to continue, and they should not have made any changes, and certainly should not have made any unilateral changes.”
This change to negotiate directly with the union over salary raises, rather than through the standard university channels, was not formally communicated to UTSF, Buchanan said. To her and her fellow faculty members, she said this could be perceived as an “act of bad faith” by the university given the union's previous challenges in getting recognized.
