Eastern Michigan University faculty union to hold strike vote
Eastern Michigan University's faculty union will meet Tuesday to vote on going out on strike. The union's contract expired before the start of classes, but faculty has been teaching during the first week while classes went on.
If the faculty goes out on strike, it could impact the second week of classes for Eastern's students.
“Our goal remains a fair settlement but unfortunately the EMU Administration is throwing every possible obstacle in the way of a new labor agreement,” Matt Kirkpatrick, associate professor of English language and literature and chair of the EMU-AAUP negotiating team, said in a news release Sunday night. “The uncertainty and instability of forcing faculty to work without a contract is tremendously unfair to our students, especially after everything we’ve all been through in the past two-and-a-half years.”
If union members pass the strike motion, they could walk out as soon as Wednesday.
“Our team can state with absolute certainty that we have done everything in our power to avert a strike. We have worked around the clock to try to reach an agreement,” the EMU-AAUP negotiating team stated in a Sunday evening update to members. "But it is simply impossible to come to an agreement with an Administration that refuses to negotiate in good faith."
The two sides remain apart on core issues, including salary and health care.
On Thursday, Eastern's administration filed for fact-finding, which brings an independent third party appointed by the state to the bargaining table. The fact finder can make recommendations, but does not have authority to bind the sides to a contract.
"EMU administrators are now calling for a state-appointed fact finder,” said Kirkpatrick. “That won’t help much if they keep basing their proposals and public statements on easily debunked fantasies.”
“Here’s a fact: Less is not more. EMU can’t claim to be offering us a salary ‘increase’ when their proposal for a massive increase in health care costs will result in a pay decrease for many EMU-AAUP members. If administrators – who have been raising their own salaries – think we deserve a pay cut they should at least be honest about it.”
Eastern's administration wasn't immediately available for comment Sunday but has said it working hard to resolve issues.
“We are determined to continue to work to resolve the outstanding issues,” said Rhonda Longworth, provost and executive vice president for academic and student affairs, in an update issued Thursday. "Our bargaining team is as committed as the union to get this resolved. As I have repeatedly stated, a key consideration behind all of our efforts in these negotiations is to balance what we do at the bargaining table with the impact of increased costs on our students."
Eastern's faculty has a history of strikes. Professors have walked picket lines in 2000, 2004 and 2006. In 2010, they came within hours of a strike vote before coming to an agreement on a new contract. More than 500 tenured and tenure-track faculty make up the union, officials said.
Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eastern Michigan U faculty union to hold strike vote
