A possible decline in health coverage for MSU faculty has caused some members to consider forming a union to protect their health benefits.
A group of more than 20 faculty members met with organizers from the Michigan Education Association this week to discuss the possible unionization of MSU’s more than 2,700 ranked faculty members.
Health care could cost the university up to 20 percent more this year, which would raise premiums for faculty members.
University faculty members have considered forming a union twice in the last 30 years. Both attempts to organize were unsuccessful.
MSU President M. Peter McPherson declined to comment about possible faculty unionization.
Delbert Mokma, a professor of crop and soil sciences, said the rise of health care premiums and drop in services have put a pinch on his pocketbook.
“My wife spends much more time on the phone trying to get medical bills paid,” he said. “They’re paid, but if it weren’t for her tenacity they wouldn’t be.”
Mokma said his feelings about an organized faculty have changed over the years.
“If you’d asked me this question 10 years ago I would have been against it,” he said. “I’m more open-minded now than I was 10 years ago.”
No Big Ten school has a faculty union. Among the Association of American Universities, a group of research universities of which MSU is a member, only three schools - Rutgers University, Stony Brook University and the University of Florida - are unionized.
Faculty members at the University of Minnesota came close to unionizing in 1997, but the measure failed by 26 votes.
Morris Kleiner, a professor of labor policy at Minnesota, said the measure came about when the administration tried to do away with tenure for faculty members.
“By the time the vote was going to take place it appeared that there was very little support,” he said.
Unionization for MSU’s faculty could be a long way off, and the possibility of a strike is extremely remote right now, said John Van Dyken, a higher education consultant for the Michigan Education Association, who attended the meeting.
“The main goal of this meeting was to see what kind of interest there was,” Van Dyken said. “We’ve got a pretty solid group of folks who are interested in making some changes.”
Van Dyken said the meeting was an informal session for faculty to discuss concerns with union organizers - health care being one of the largest.
“They just feel they’re not being listened to by the administration,” Van Dyken said. “We’ll be working with this group to see how much interest there is among the faculty in organizing.”
Health care is a main concern for MSU administrators as well, as costs rose nearly 20 percent last year.
The University Committee on Faculty Affairs has been negotiating the matter with MSU administration, said Fred Poston, vice president for finance and operations.
University administrators have been increasing faculty salaries above the average annual Big Ten rate while trying to keep costs down on benefits, Poston said.
MSU ranks last in the Big Ten in terms of faculty salaries, but when benefits are factored, MSU ends up near the middle, Poston said.
“The total package is quite good,” he said.
