Moffitt reveals UO Board will cost more than union dues. JH tries divide and conquer with faculty.

6/7/2013: Diane Dietz has the scoop:

The UO would need $1.7 million a year to hire 11 new employees to support its board and also perform financial functions the new entity would require, according to a UO analysis.

Funny, Rudnick didn’t mention this new cost at the bargaining session Thursday. A commenter wonders how long her bargaining team has been hiding this from the faculty? Lets find out:

Subject: PR request, UO Board costs
Date: June 7, 2013 4:13:18 PM PDT
To: Lisa Thornton Cc: Jamie Moffitt , Gregory Rikhoff , David Hubin

Dear Ms Thornton

This is a public records request for the cost estimates for the care and feeding of a UO Board, mentioned in this RG story: http://www.registerguard.com/rg/news/local/29977065-75/board-university-state-oregon-boards.html.csp?utm_source=feedly
I’m ccing Jamie Moffitt because she should be able to easily send them along.

I ask for a public interest fee waiver because, well, because $1.7M is a lot of money.

The union expects to be able to keep dues to 1.25% of salary or less. After the raises, that will work out to about $1.3 million a year.

6/7/2013: And speaking of divide and conquer, “The University” sends these emails out to all the faculty who are not in the bargaining unit. I tried to get on the listserv – nope. President Gottfredson won’t tell me who really writes them, unless I pay $285.98. But judging from the number of people who forward them on to me with sarcastic comments – most which violate my one cuss word policy – this strategy is backfiring almost as badly as the attempt to drive a wedge between the students and the faculty did. Free speech zones? Whoops. 

FROM: Labor Relations

DATE: June 7, 2013 1:30:54 PM PDT

TO: Labor Relations

SUBJECT: BARGAINING UPDATE: FACULTY SALARIES AND OTHER CRITICAL NEEDS

_

This email is being sent to unrepresented members of the faculty._

_ _

_A Message from Barbara Altmann_

FACULTY SALARIES AND OTHER CRITICAL NEEDS

United Academics put a salary counterproposal on the bargaining table this week showing the faculty union hasn’t altered its position that the University of Oregon should spend more on salaries for bargaining unit members, regardless of other critical campus needs.

The University has offered bargaining unit members across-the-board and merit pay raises averaging 10.3% percent for tenure-track and tenured faculty and 11.37% for NTTFs. The NTTF figure includes $486,000 ($640,000 with benefits calculated) that would be set aside to address non-tenure-track faculty salary floors.

In total, the University is willing to invest an additional $13.3 million a year for faculty compensation over FY 14 and FY 15.

The union, however, wants more.

The latest United Academics’ proposal calls for approximately a 15.2% increase in pay for tenure-track and tenured faculty and approximately 19.2% for NTTFs. That represents between $20.7 and $22.1 million by FY 15, or between $ 7.3 and $8.7 million more per year than the University’s compensation proposal.

Both sides at the bargaining table readily acknowledge that the University has limited resources and many needs – including hiring new faculty, maintaining the UO library collection and services, upgrading the technology infrastructure, building and equipping classrooms, and adding advisors and counselors for students. There’s no disagreement that faculty excellence must be recognized and rewarded, and that improving faculty salaries is a major priority for the University’s limited funds.

The University is committed to achieving the goal of bringing faculty salaries in line with our peer institutions and to accomplishing that goal in a manner that preserves and protects our financial integrity and viability.

Since the beginning of negotiations about six months ago, the University has articulated three basic goals for the outcome of that process:

1. Enhance the university’s attractiveness to current and future students, faculty and staff.

2. Encourage and reward the highest quality teaching, research and community service.

3. Maintain a solid and sustainable financial structure.

Faculty compensation is critically important, but we cannot meet all those goals if we ignore other critical needs.

For additional information please visit the official website [1] of faculty contract negotiations (http://uo-ua.uoregon.edu/ [1]). Please feel free to share this link with others.