FUSA Council will hold the March monthly meeting, on Friday, March 25th, via Zoom at 9:00 a.m. Guests are invited to attend. Check your inbox for an email sent by the FUSA President with the Zoom link for the meeting.
Additionally, you may find these articles from the Economic Policy Institute interesting:
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the FUSA Council, I would like to update you on the status of the class action grievance FUSA has filed regarding your 2021‐2022 step increase. (Re: Email, 11/29/2021, FUSA Grievance – Article 14).
The Administration’s response to the grievance now contains a new tactic in saying the filing of the grievance is “not timely,” implying FUSA is outside the allowed 45-day window to file. Per the contract, the 45-day window starts from the date the union had, with reasonable diligence, knowledge of the facts leading to the grievance. It is on this “start date” that FUSA and the Administration disagree.
The Administration has established the common practice of withholding raises and/or lump sums until after the term has started, waiting for enrollment numbers or other finances to be updated before making final budgeting decisions. In the spirit of cooperation, FUSA has patiently and in good faith given the Administration time to make such decisions. With that in mind, it is FUSA’s position that the window to file the grievance began in October 2021, when the final fall enrollment was in, and Dr. Atwater provided FUSA with a budget update that indicated the step increase would still not be funded.
It is the Administration’s position that the window to file began in May 2021, when Cabinet first began discussing not paying the 2021-2022 step, which would imply we would have had to file the grievance for not being awarded the 2021 -2022 step before the academic contract year had even begun. In addition, the Administration’s argument that the grievance was not timely was also unexpected since they had been following the steps of the grievance process up until that point.
The Administration did not respond to FUSA’s argument that the grievance was timely, so we proceeded to Step 4, Written Appeal to the President. The resulting meeting with HR and FUSA led to no resolution on the matter, with the Administration still stating the grievance is not timely and no funding is available to pay the step.
We are now at Step 5, the final step of the grievance process, which is arbitration. We submitted our case to the UFF – Contract Enforcement Committee, which voted unanimously that our case has merit and, as such, UFF will assist and represent us in taking the case to arbitration. The tentative arbitration date has been set for mid-June.
We will continue to keep you informed during arbitration. As always, we look forward to working with the Administration towards a satisfactory resolution.
Feel free to contact your campus representative should you have questions.
In solidarity,
Elizabeth R. Key-Raimer, EdS
Professor of Counseling
UFF-FUSA President
HB 1197: “Employee Organizations” – This bill will remove the right to organize, form, and keep unions for many workers in Florida by requiring membership percentage minimums (50%), removing payroll deductions for union dues, and allowing for unreasonable challenges to union membership lists. This bill attacks all public employees except for public employee unions that represent police, fire and correctional officers.
In the middle of an economic and health crisis, 1 million Floridians could lose their voice and legal rights on the job, rights Floridians have had since 1974, written into the Florida constitution. Wages, benefits, and protections for educators, nurses, line workers, electricians, bus drivers, city, county, and state employees are under attack.
Andrew Gothard, President of the United Faculty of Florida stated, “In a democracy, laws must be heard in the open, and the people should have a say in their government. This last-minute attempt to ram through policy that will harm over a million unionized Floridians is a stain on the Sunshine State. From bus drivers to bricklayers, nurses to teachers, these people have sacrificed time and again to make Florida what it is today, and they deserve to be rewarded by our legislators, not punished.”
We are calling on all Floridians to protect our economy, our democracy, and the communities we rely on every day. Call your Senator and tell them to VOTE NO on HB 1197!
Taking action is easy! But please do not delay!
DON’T WAIT. TAKE ACTION TODAY!
The legislature is trying to make a bad bill worse. Please read the message from UFF president Andrew Gothard below. It involves post-tenure review which was already instituted for FCS but is now aimed at universities. If this bill passes it is seen as another step toward elimination of tenure in Florida. Please take a moment to call your Senator today to ask them to Vote No on this amendment which is being heard today!
Dear UFF Members,
This is an URGENT ACTION ALERT. We need all UFF members to call your local senators NOW!
Yesterday afternoon, Senator Diaz filed an amendment to SB 7044, the higher ed accreditation bill, that will allow the Board of Governors to implement a statewide post-tenure review policy requiring all tenured faculty in the state university system to undergo a thorough post-tenure review process every five years. You can read the details of the amendment here.
Even if you are not a tenured university faculty member, this bill affects you, as it represents the next step in our legislature’s attempt to dismantle the Florida higher education system.
Take Action
The amendment and the bill will be heard in the Senate today [March 4]. Please call your local Senator right NOW and tell them to vote NO on the post-tenure review amendment (#958072) for SB 7044.
Find your legislator by using the UFF Legislative Toolkit. Phone numbers for all Senators can be found here.
Sample Script: “Protect Florida’s students and our future. Vote NO on the post-tenure review amendment (#881582) for SB 7044!”
Additional Talking Points
The integrity of higher education in Florida hangs in the balance, so do not delay. Take action now!
In Solidarity,
Andrew Gothard, Ph.D.
President
United Faculty of Florida
FEA/NEA/AFT/AFL-CIO
https://myuff.org/
The 2022 Florida legislative session is drawing to a close with the fate of many consequential bills yet to be decided. Two such bills in play right would have significant impact on higher education and higher education institutions if the pass into law.
You can lend your voice to help stop two bills still threatening higher education. Here are some tools for you to contact your legislators and let your voice be heard.
First, if you don’t don’t know your legislators, use FEA’s Find your Legislator tool.
Action item 1: Email or call your House Representative about HB 703 – Pub. Rec. and Meetings/Postsecondary Education Executive Search
Action item 2: Email or call your House Representative & your State Senator (separately) about HB 7051 & SB 7044 – Postsecondary Education (Accreditation)
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
FUSA Council will be meeting, on Friday, February 28, via Zoom at 9:00 a.m. Guests are invited to attend. Please refer to the FUSA President’s email (sent on 2/24) for the Zoom link.
Additionally, you may find this link interesting:
Gallup: Approval of Labor Unions at Highest Point Since 1965
Please see the linked newsletter for last week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session. This week, we’re focusing on stopping HB 7051 / SB 7044, the university and college accreditation bills in the House and Senate. Check out the newsletter to learn more!
This week the bills are in committee in both chambers. While there has been institutional pushback on this bills from around the state — it is that bad — it is still moving. If we can stop it in committee in one of the chambers then it will be dead (at least for this session). Here is the info: (focus on Dems of course to vote NO, but do also contact Repubs)
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Despite the fact that SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill, passed on the Senate floor last week, there is still a chance to take action and stop this bad bill from becoming law.
This week the House companion to SB 520, HB 703, still has one more committee stop before reaching the floor for a final vote. Contact members of the Education and Employment Committee today and ask them to vote NO on HB 703. In addition, you can contact members of the Florida House Democrats, and ask them to vote NO on the bill as well. If forty out of forty-one vote NO, the bill will fail on the House floor.
For more information, please see the UFF newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Whew. We are just about at the halfway point of the legislative session. It has been exhausting so far but our advocacy is having an effect!
The final vote on SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill was supposed to happen last week, but that vote was been delayed until Thursday morning 2/10. Your advocacy caused this delay!
Now, we need to capitalize on this energy and keep up the pressure on our allies in the Senate Democratic Caucus by continuing to urge them to vote NO on SB 520.
It is time for all UFF members to flood the offices of all Senate Democrats with calls, emails, and social media posts asking them to vote NO on SB 520! We need to do this before Thursday morning vote on 2/10!
Click these links to find contact information, message templates, and talking points.
And for more information, please see the linked newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!
From UFF President Andrew Gothard:
Please see the newsletter for this week’s UFF update on the 2022 Florida Legislative session.
“This week, SB 520, the “Secrecy in College and University Presidential Searches” bill passed its final committee before heading to a vote on the Senate floor. Our leaders and members have done a fantastic job of securing NO votes from the Democratic Caucus, but the work is not yet over!
UFF believes that this bill will be on the Senate floor for a vote as early as Thursday, February 3rd. This means we are now in all-hands-on-deck, five-alarm-fire territory. If you have been waiting for a time to take action, do so now or risk permanently losing transparency in presidential searches!
Call, email, and tag on social media Democratic Senator / Minority Leader Lauren Book, asking her to vote NO on SB 520 and asking her to have the Democratic Caucus vote NO.
Click these links to find message templates and talking points.
DON’T WAIT! TAKE ACTION TODAY!“
Faculty United Service Association 
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