A negotiation message from WMU-AAUP President Cathryn Bailey and Vice President Christopher Nagle
As we shared in a previous message, it appears that the Western Michigan University Administration may have intended all along to stonewall under the guise of “ongoing negotiations” in order to force the faculty into accepting a lowball compensation offer. In short, while the Administration has gone through the motions of negotiating on compensation—and continues to do so—the Administration’s lackluster efforts at compromise suggest a plan to force the faculty into accepting a skimpy increase or risk getting no raise at all.
As a reminder that, this summer the WMU-AAUP has been focused, not on its entire contract with Western, but, rather, a “reopener” of compensation and healthcare. This means that the contract as a whole remains in force while these two critical articles are renegotiated. While the process more or less functioned with healthcare negotiations—due to open enrollment deadlines, the Administration was eager to get a tentative agreement in place—they seem to feel no such urgency about across-the-board raises. And, as per Article 49 of the WMU/WMU-AAUP Agreement, the Administration may simply choose to implement its last offer if negotiations continue past the deadline, although this is subject to continued bargaining by both sides.
As of now, the Administration’s last offer was, roughly, three percent in each year, representing just 1/4 of one percent increase over their initial offer of 2.75. Why has the Administration barely budged from its low number? One explanation is that they have been planning all along to simply force a low salary onto employees, i.e, their final best offer. Consequently, rather than making an effort to compromise, they have been going through the motions of salary negotiation but failing to budge.
At the same time, the WMU-AAUP proposal has gone from 11.25/11.25 (with additional annual research supplements), to 8/8, and we have urged the Administration to provide a genuine counteroffer. Crucially, however, while the Administration “may” implement that last offer—a 3/3 they have emphasized the fact that they need not do so. One potential result is that employees could get no raise at all if the WMU-AAUP refuses formally agree to a lowball raise that many of our members have identified as unacceptable. If this process were to continue to unfold, then the Administration would likely attempt to the blame the faculty union for refusing to agree to that lowball offer.
Concern grows when one further considers that the Administration has refused to make itself reasonably available to negotiate at key times. They were not available to negotiate on the crucial last day (August 30) and now seem to be settling on occasional availability. In addition, the process of “negotiation” is one in which our team—including an attorney whom we must pay by the hour—is mostly left to languish in a conference room all day while the Administration authorizes the mediator to reiterate its position to us from time to time. While maintaining this shallow performance of negotiations may not be a big deal for WMU—they seem untroubled at spending hundreds of thousands of dollars —perhaps millions—on an anti-union attorney—this wasteful process is, as they know, a hardship for the WMU-AAUP. This is because of attorney fees and because our team members are busy faculty members and not administrative bureaucrats.
We reiterate this message to you now because we will not be surprised if the Administration begins to suggest that the faculty union is to blame for the Administration’s failure to implement that “last offer” raise while it continues to engage in its unconvincing performance of negotiating. If so, please keep in mind that they are willfully refusing to provide the faculty with meaningful compensation increases despite the fact that they Western can afford it and that faculty deserve it. Please further note that nothing prohibits the Administration from providing you with that minimal “last offer” 3/3 increase while negotiations continue. In fact, each day that goes by that you see no such increase on your paycheck is cause for concern. Does President Montgomery plan to hold even this small compensation increase hostage by threatening us with a zero increase?
As you consider all this, please also keep in mind that the Administration’s manipulative, disingenuous “negotiating” strategy only works if they continue to believe they can get away with ignoring employee dissatisfaction and solidarity. To that end, the Chapter will continue to help focus the faculty’s ongoing determination to restore investment in Western’s academic mission. See below for ongoing suggestions about how you can participate.
How you can get involved:
- plan to attend our rally at the next WMU Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26th at the Student Center (scheduled to begin at noon). Wear your WMU-AAUP t-shirt if you have one or a black shirt if you don’t
- subscribe to the official WMU-AAUP blog to be notified by email of new posts, and be sure to review past posts; partly due to concerns about reliance on the Administration’s email system, it is important that we have multiple ways of providing information to members and allies
- stop by Montague House, grab some posters/fliers, and we’ll provide you with some suggestions about what to do with them; order a WMU-AAUP t-shirt today so you’re ready to participate in ongoing actions
- reach out to members of the Board of Trustees, and to local and state elected officials, and ask for their support in our efforts to get WMU to renew its commitment to its academic mission; here’s an example of letter sent to each Board member from WMU-AAUP president, Cathryn Bailey
- follow the WMU-AAUP on Facebook and Twitter (X) and share our posts widely; again, having multiple methods of quickly connecting with members and allies has become increasingly important
- stand ready to participate in ongoing actions, and be sure to share WMU-AAUP communications with colleagues to ensure that this ongoing matter remains on their radar
Strength in solidarity 