As always, FUSA is hosting the Faculty Graduation Breakfast at the Florida State Fairgrounds on Friday, May 2, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. For more information, view the invitation.
Bargaining
The fourth and currently last planned bargaining session is slated for May 9 at the Ybor City Campus, YLRC 305, from 9am – 1pm. All faculty are invited to attend FUSA bargaining sessions with Administration. In fact, we encourage it! Even if you can’t stay for the full session a steady stream of faculty in attendance speaks volumes about our solidarity.
The FUSA Informant and more
If you haven’t read the latest issue of the FUSA Informant, fear not. We have it linked online so you can read about your union and the various happenings this spring.
A key finding: “Unionized faculty who collectively bargain are paid tens of thousands of dollars more than those who don’t, the new report shows. And it helps everyone around them…including other staff on those campuses and even non-union faculty in the same states.”
While there was little suspense, FUSA easily bounded the hurdle of union recertification with a clear signal that legislative union busting attempts will not win the day! Voting closed April 1, 2025, and the ballots were tallied and reported by PERC, the Public Employees Relation Commission.
As FUSA President Sherry Sippel noted, “A resounding 99.2% of voting faculty were in favor of continuing to be represented by FUSA as their collective bargaining agent! In addition, almost 70% of the faculty voted! That sends a strong message to the legislature that their next union-busting tactic of requiring more than half the bargaining unit to vote will surely fail here at HCC.”
UFF President Teresa Hodge added, “Please join me in congratulating the Faculty United Service Association of Hillsborough Community College on their PERC election win today…Our bargaining unit members are continuing to make it clear that they want to keep their collective bargaining rights and their union by voting ‘YES for UFF!’ UFF now has nine (9) chapters that have won their PERC elections. So, let’s celebrate each PERC win as we continue to thrive against all the odds!”
On behalf of the FUSA Council, our sincere thanks to everyone for casting their vote! United we are stronger!!
Bargaining – round 3
Our third of four scheduled bargaining sessions will take place April 4 at 9am – 1pm in YLRC 305 (Ybor Campus). As agreed to by both Admin and FUSA, this is the last session at which article proposals can be presented. Here is a Bargaining Summary of the proposals presented thus far and their status after the first two sessions.
All faculty are encouraged to attend bargaining sessions and stay involved! When we pack the room with faculty it really makes a statement–much like our PERC victory–that your contract is important and so is your union.
Legislative updates and action
Advocacy in Tallahassee by faculty and educators, with the help of UFF, FEA, and Working Families Lobby Corps, is making an impact. So is FEA’s weekly power hour Zoom meetings and legislative actions which have resulted in thousands of emails and phone calls each week to legislators on proposed legislation.
For instance, the perennial “guns on campus” zombie bill is dead once again! And this year’s union busting bills are having a hard go of it, seeming to be stalled in both chambers. Meanwhile, the Higher Ed “Presidential searches in the sunshine” bill is getting closer to becoming reality and would fix a terribly politicizing change made to a once open process.
Keep up the pressure with these actions (select “United Faculty of Florida” as your local union):
Educators in Florida are facing a two-prong attack. Closer to home, the Florida legislature is again coming at us with union busting bills, while nationally we have the current administration’s unconstitutional efforts to dismantle the Department of Education to contend with. But don’t lose hope. Fight back! Let them know we stand united in defense of education, students, and the right to a collective voice to negotiate better wages, benefits, and working conditions.
On the Florida front
It is time to tell your legislators once and for all to leave educators, students and unions alone. Year after year bills are filed and often pass that defy your constituents and the intent of the Florida constitution which has enshrined the right to collectively bargain. Year after year teachers have shown that we will fight for our voice as workers that teach for the public good.
It’s time to tell Congress to do their constitutional duty as a coequal branch of government and to protect the federal agencies they created from the callous, chaotic, incompetent cuts like those aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. Read UFF’s Press Release Condemning Executive Order Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, then take action:
A lot is going on both locally for FUSA and at the state and national level regarding education and higher ed in particular. Your union is committed to helping safeguard and improve working conditions and pay for faculty. And there are times when we need to call on all members to lend a hand in these battles because our strength is in our numbers. Looking out for each other is the true meaning of solidarity.
Ballots
By now you should have received a FUSA Fire notification in your HCC email from FUSA President, Sherry Sippel, outlining the frustrating background behind the union recertification vote we are required to hold.
You should have also received your ballot by now at your home address. If you haven’t yet received your ballot, contact us as soon as possible. You may also email FUSA_President at hccfl.edu or jbullian at hccfl.edu.
It is imperative we get not only all FUSA members but every single HCC faculty member to vote YES to keep the union. This will send a strong message to Tallahassee that these unwarranted bureaucratic hurdles recently mandated for teacher unions, among others, are both a waste of time and taxpayer money.
Bargaining
Our second of four scheduled bargaining sessions occurred Feb 21. Both Admin and FUSA presented article proposals. Here is a Bargaining Summary of the proposals presented thus far. The next bargaining session is slated for April 4 at 9am – 1pm in YLRC 305 (Ybor Campus). All faculty are encouraged to attend and stay involved! We had a good faculty turn out last time. Let’s try and improve on it and get even more faculty to show up!
And now for the B.S.
Not only are we in the midst of the 2025 Florida Legislative session, we also are witnessing unprecedented attacks on government and education that have come with the new presidential administration. The “move fast and break things” approach has been callous, chaotic and incompetent.
If you are feeling powerless and looking for a way to stand up and fight for education and the institutions that have made this country great, your union is here to help. In fact there are large national alliances that are pushing back on these attacks.
A great example of union power and solidarity happened on Feb. 25, 2025 in D.C. at a rally held by Labor for Higher Education, a group consisting of higher ed labor unions banding together to oppose the targeted attack on workers and funding at colleges and universities. Concurrently, an online meeting was held during which participants called their legislators and other officials and urged them to oppose these unprecedented attacks on academic workers across the country. If you missed the rally you can watch the video below (note the audio clears up at about 0:1:40 or so).
The event featured:
CWA Vice President, Public, Healthcare & Education Workers, Margaret Cook AAUP President Todd Wolfson UAW 2750 President Emilya Ventriglia AFT President Randi Weingarten AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride UAW Int’l Executive Board – Region 6 Director Mike Miller Rutgers AAUP/AFT member Annika Barber UE General President Carl Rosen NEA Council for Higher Education Alec Thomson HELU Chair Levin Kim/UAW
The next FUSA Council meeting will occur Fri. Jan 24, 2025 at 9am in YLRC 305. All Faculty are welcome to attend.
Member benefits
Are you taking advantage of all of your union benefits? FUSA members are part of a larger labor movement for educators specifically and workers in general. In addition to the provisions and protections in our contract, or collective bargaining agreement (CBA), there are many other benefits members can choose to tap into. Learn more about the benefits of membership.
Legislative session
The 2025 Legislative session will begin in March. Your elected UFF Senators and the FUSA Council will keep abreast of the potential impacts to higher ed. Take a look at how you can get involved in and contact us:
Join the FUSA Government Relations committee
Become a member of the Higher Ed Regional Outreach (HERO) team for West Central Florida.
If you have any questions feel free contact us. To learn more about the benefits of being a FUSA member, visit our Member Benefits page.
Bargaining update
Due to the recent storm closure for Hurricane Milton, FUSA and the Administration have rescheduled bargaining for Nov. 22 at the Ybor campus (YLRC 305) from 12noon – 2pm. Stay tuned for the official notice from the college and an update from the FUSA President.
Bargaining on the 2025-2028 contract will continue throughout Fall and extend into Spring term. Further dates will be shared as they are scheduled. Faculty attendance at bargaining sessions is greatly encouraged!
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a long-time defender of higher education principles, faculty, academic freedom, and shared governance has released the full report of its investigation into the state of higher education in Florida and it is not pretty. A preliminary look at the findings had been released over the summer but the full report is a damning indictment of Governor DeSantis and the Legislature’s “politically and ideologically driven assault” on higher education, faculty, and institutions like New College, “unparalleled in US History.”
Indeed, the report notes that meaningful higher education in Florida may not survive. It also notes how college and university administrators have been silent while their own institutions, faculty, and students have been under siege. Sadly, at times they’ve even been complicit in the implementation of “policies that would severely restrict academic freedom and faculty and student rights.”
It is clear that no one is coming to our rescue. The only bulwark against these attacks is the collective strength of faculty unions. If you aren’t a member, join today to add to the collective voice pushing back against the political forces that wish to dismantle higher education, academic freedom, and intellectual freedom. As a member of FUSA you are also a member of state and national affiliates that are continually working to protect your rights and improve your economic and working conditions.
The preliminary report offered four main findings:
The “hostile takeover” of New College is both a “test case” and a “blueprint for future encroachments on public colleges and universities across the country”;
Academic administrators in Florida “not only have failed to contest” attacks on the system “but have too frequently been complicit in and, in some cases, explicitly supported them”;
Legislation enacted by Governor DeSantis and the legislature, “taken collectively, constitutes a systematic effort to dictate and enforce conformity with a narrow and reactionary political and ideological agenda” and represents “a uniquely bold and dangerous program designed to reshape public higher education according to ideological and partisan political standards”; and
“The chilling effect on academic freedom of the governor’s and legislature’s efforts has already been felt by faculty and students.”
Faculty United Service Association 
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