Union bargaining XVI: Class warfare looms

Act I:

I got here a little late, they are talking about the union’s request for data on UO’s financial situation. Rudnick is saying Jamie will come in next session and actually answer questions! She has been trying to cost proposals. Will present those in 2 weeks. Mauer: That’s good news.

Art 47, Admin Counter on perks for retirees: Status quo. Cecil: Are these listed somewhere? Pratt: Not the same as what’s in the 1991 policy. Rudnick not happy they found a mistake.

Art 48, Admin Counter on TRP: Snoozer. “The University” comes up again since the administration keeps using it in their counter-proposals. Originally Rudnick said it was demeaning for her team to be called “The Administration”. Now she doesn’t want to talk about it.

Rudnick passes around financial comparison to OUS peers. She gives us these to give context as to resources available here at UO – significantly less. As usual they administration ignores the fact that our comparators have medical, engineering schools. This make our admin costs look low in comparison – no expensive hospital administrators! Hmm, if we’re so small and poor, why do we pay our central administrators salaries comparable to what their equivalents earn at AAU peers where they have to deal with 4x the budget, hospitals, nuclear reactors, etc?

Rudnick: The bottom line is you can quibble but we are poor. You only get paid what you do because Gottfredson is a river unto his people. UO can barely afford my fees, I may have to do this pro bono soon. Cecil: I heard Lariviere say more than a few times that he had the money for faculty raises – wonder where you spent it.

Costing the Union proposals:

Rudnick starts reading off her crib notes – doesn’t understand what she’s saying. Keeps flipping back and forth, looking confused. Doug – help me. She’s trying to set this up to argue that the only way to pay for the raises is going to be tuition increases. We certainly can’t afford to cut our lean administration, or our sports budget. Mauer calls her on it. Rudnick: This is just information, you understand? Mauer: You won’t even let faculty sit on the committee that makes budgeting decisions. Rudnick goes of on the grant issues – all the money is not fungible. Gleason starts arguing about tuition money. Really – there’s no administrative fat to cut? JH can’t make the AD start paying for the Jock Box and Mac Court? Parking for Matt Court. Green: Isn’t it true that federal grants include provisions for raises. Rudnick: whoops.

Rudnick: By the end of FY 2015, your proposal creates a $25M increase in recurring expenses. Add in costs for equivalent raises for the non union faculty members. Cecil: Knock off a few million because you don’t understand floors. Union goes back on forth on the various exaggerations Rudnick et al have cooked up. Gleason wants to double count union release time – giggles from the faculty as he tries to explain himself.

Rudnick then pulls out her favorite chart, claiming that the union has proposed paying for all these raises with tuition increases, so she costs out each part of the raises in tuition dollars. Mauer: Really, there’s no fat in the budget? Green: Why is this the first time the administration has ever come to us to discuss how tuition money should be spent?

Mauer: Will you cost your proposals when you present them? Cecil: You said our proposals are “high”. What are you willing to spend?

Add in all the economic proposals – e.g. full pay for sabbaticals, release time for union officers, child care – and I’m guessing the union’s economic proposals work out to about a 4% increase in the total UO budget for 2015-16. Maybe a bit more if you include the sabbaticals for admins like Bean, and Rudnick’s bills.

Seems reasonable. Given that Lariviere wanted to implement similar raises for the TTF by Sept 2011, UO has already saved up a boatload of money in Jamie’s reserves, so we shouldn’t even have to hit the recurring budget until 2015 or so. Let’s get this done, President Gottfredson!

I bailed at this point, sorry. I hear the admin team lost control of the ball in the second half. Luebke’s blog has this:

was there only from 10:30 to 11;40: Gina Psaki did an “Ole’, toro!” on Rudnick, pointing out how their side had misread (?) misrepresented what UAUO wrote about the reserves etc.. Rudnick tends to get rather pissy for a lawyer (I thought they were supposed to keep their cool). Then Dave Cecil was just fantastically unstoppable, summing up their positions, comparing/contrasting them to what we had said/done, ending up with telling her that calling us “irresponsible” really was not a helpful way to lead negotiations. I was spinning, I’m sure Rudnick and the Blues Brothers were too….

Here’s the admin cost blather handout. See you Thursday. Buy your online ticket here – $5 for 4 hours of comedy and administrative hijinks. Well drinks only $6 during happy hour, 8-9.