a negotiation message from Dr. Cathryn Bailey, President of the WMU-AAUP Chapter, the labor union for Western Michigan University’s Board-appointed faculty
It is my unfortunate duty as President of the WMU-AAUP to share with you today that the news both from the 2024 negotiation table and from our member-activists in the field is concerning. First of all, Western’s management—a handful of university administrators (led, once again, by an exorbitantly paid attorney from a union-busting Detroit firm) is refusing to provide data necessary for us to advocate effectively for our members. Indeed, week after week, the WMU-AAUP team, guided for the first time ever by a labor-centered external healthcare consultant, has faced stonewalling as the WMU Administration throws up its hands, claiming that it is unable to provide information about how much it spends on healthcare each year. In addition, WMU-AAUP members and allies are reporting that union-pride and other negotiation-related posters are being torn down by the University almost as quickly as they are posted. In general, the message that our employer is sending to campus employees—and keep in mind that the salary portion of negotiations has yet to begin—is one of obstruction and obfuscation.
More specifically with respect to healthcare, the WMU-AAUP negotiation team has repeatedly requested data regarding rate development and the reconciliation reports of employee health care costs. This is critical to achieve even a modicum of transparency about how the annual rates for health care are being projected, and also to assess the balance between employee insurance claims and contributions made by the university. As our team has pressed for this data week after week, the Administration has resisted. Shockingly, the Administration is now claiming that they, themselves, do not access such reports from external consultants and vendors, data that we are confident is available to them. Whether the Administration’s response here is straightforward stonewalling or based on a stunningly irresponsible lack of curiosity on their part, it obviously puts WMU employees at a huge disadvantage. Without such data on the table for all to see, WMU can—as it has apparently done in at least some past negotiations—make assertions about its healthcare costs that are wildly exaggerated. And the fact that these Administrators are not embarrassed to openly assert to us that they do not themselves even bother to request such basic, vital information is noteworthy given the constant administrative rhetoric about scarce resources and fiduciary responsibility.
To provide a bit more context for all of this, please note again that, as I write this, negotiations regarding salary increases—usually the most contentious part of labor negotiations—have not even begun. But please keep in mind that the WMU Administration has historically insisted on tying compensation to healthcare benefits during negotiations, effectively claiming that any salary raises will have to be balanced by employee concessions on healthcare. It’s similar to a common tactic used at car dealerships when the trade-in value, new car cost, and financing charges get rolled together in a way meant to confuse the buyer and grossly advantage the dealership. You can be sure, then, that the WMU Administration has gotten in the habit of mashing together these two distinct matters—compensation and healthcare—precisely because it has been beneficial for them to do so. This also helps shed light on why the Administration has been so adamant that employees be kept in the dark about the actual costs of healthcare. What would employees accept as fair compensation and healthcare if we knew how much our benefits are actually costing the university? Given how reluctant the Administration is to provide this information, one is left to imagine they must be raking in huge profits in this area and perhaps have been for decades.
In closing, I’ll return to the concern about negotiation-related, union-pride posters being torn down by the Administration, an act that I construe as part of the Administration’s overall campaign to demoralize and intimidate employees. This Administration, while claiming to be employee-centered and union friendly, evidently does not welcome the visible signs of employee solidarity or robust critique that are a normal part of nearly all negotiation cycles. Although it is disappointing that Western Michigan University has become increasingly inured to, and intolerant of, employee input and dissent (and increasingly dismissive of its negotiated labor contracts), the good news for employees is that this Administration is nervous about the power of worker solidarity. To be sure, employers who are genuinely committed to treating employees fairly and respectfully do not rely on intimidation tactics, gaslighting, or stonewalling. Indeed, one reason some universities become known as “a great place to work” is precisely by how their management handles negotiations —and other dealings—with their labor unions.
What can you do? In addition to all the instructions you’ve already received from the WMU-AAUP about supporting negotiations:
⁃ share this message widely, with both your faculty colleagues and allies
⁃ contact the WMU-AAUP to arrange to pick up posters and other materials or to have them delivered to you; the fact that the Administration is tearing down posters proves that they are meaningful, so it should surprise no one that we intend to increase our efforts in this area
⁃ to whatever degree you feel able, connect with union-friendly WMU colleagues, including administrators, making sure they understand how the WMU negotiation team—a handful of temporarily-empowered individuals—is treating employees at the table
With determination and in solidarity, Cathryn
Strength in solidarity 