In this Issue:
Opening Negotiation Proposals
Money-The Heart of the Matter (University Finances)
Administration: What DO They DO?
Tuition: What ARE They Paying For?
Negotiation Committees for the 2003- 2006 C.B.A 
Negotiations Format
Recitation
Maternity Leave
Grievance Report 
Officer Elections

Administration Proposals

• 5 Year Contract
• 3% Raise Guaranteed in the First Year Only
• 25% Faculty Contribution to Health Care
• No Health Insurance for Spouses if the Spouse has Coverage Elsewhere
• Buyout for Faculty Reaching the Age of 68 by 9/1/07

• Annual Review of ALL FACULTY by the Central Administration (called “recitation”)
• Creation of Sabbaticals to improve Teaching, with the Addition of a curriculum vitae and ALL PREVIOUS Sabbatical Proposals and Reports

• 11% Increase in All Salaries and Stipends for Each of 3 Years
• Reversion to Full Health Care Coverage for All Faculty
• A Decrease in Chairperson’s Workload to 3 Credits per Semester
• Stipends of 6 Credits per Semester for Chairs of Large Departments, 4 Credits per Semester for Other Chairs
• Reduction of NTTA Workload to 9 Credits
• An End to Embracive Administrative Contracts
• Increase in Retiree Health Benefits to $500,000 or $2,400 for Medigap
• Health Insurance for Long Serving Adjuncts
• Longevity Payments for Long Serving Adjuncts
• Matching Payments to TIAA/CREF for Adjuncts
• Free Access to the Wellness Center for Full Time, Adjunct and Retired Faculty

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They Say…
Tuition can not continue to rise at the present rate, so there’s no money.

We Say….
They’re Right!  The Students Pay Too Much!
 

• Since 1999, net tuition revenue has increased from $74,705,000 to $111,325,000, and increase of 49% on flat enrollment
• But...
• As a percentage of the budget, staff benefits are stable, rising from 30.9% to 31.4%
• Despite soaring energy costs, utilities are stable, rising from 2.3% of the budget to 2.6%
• Faculty salaries have fallen from 20% of the budget to 17.5% of the budget
• Scholarships have fallen from 15.3% of the budget to 13.5% of the budget
• Academic staff salaries have fallen from 5.2 % of the budget to 4.7% of the budget
• Maintenance and Engineering salaries have fallen from 2% of the budget to 1.6%
• Janitorial salaries have fallen from 2.4% of the budget to 2% of the budget

So, Where’s the Money?

• Since 1998, the number of deans and high level administrators on the Brooklyn Campus has increased from 35 to 65
• The number of employees at University Center has grown from 141 to 196
• Brooklyn’s share of University expenses has increased by 56.8%, faster than the increase in Brooklyn revenue.

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What DO These People Do?

As previously mentioned, the number of employees at University Center has increased from 141 to 196 since 1999.  Everyone knows that the Center performs many valuable services to the University, such as purchasing and ensuring that we are paid each month!  So the question is, who got hired and what do they do to improve the University?

It turns out that the number of employees in purchasing, payroll and finance, the “money in-money out” areas, has remained stable.  Computer related jobs have risen from 16 to 40, perhaps because of the ERP.  The only other large increases are in the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, 6 employees to 15 employees, and the Legal Department, which increased from 2 people to 7 people.  Just food for thought!
 

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What Are They Paying For?

Negotiating in a private institution is always delicate.  The Negotiating Team and the Executive Committee fully realize that it is not a matter of making “their” money into “our” money.  It’s all the students’ money!

The average student family income at the Brooklyn Campus is $33,132 (it’s $68,800 at CW Post!).  We know that our students do not have a great deal of money and that they deserve value for their hard earned dollars.  So, what exactly are they getting?
 

• In 1999-2000, the average cost was $538/credit, of which $156  (29%) went to full time faculty and adjunct salaries
• 1n 2005-2006, the average cost was $785/credit, of which $126 (16%) went to full time faculty and adjunct salaries!
• Average class size has increased from 18 students per class in 1999-2000  to 22 students per class in 2005-2006
• During the same period, salaries at Student Activities have increased 77.5%
• The annual budget for the activities has remained constant at a paltry $18,000 per year.  That’s about $1.50 for each student!
• A personal favorite, a category called “Unallocated Salaries and Expenses has increased from $294,000 to $2.2 million!

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The Union Negotiating Team

At the last General Membership meeting, held on March 8th, the following negotiating team was approved by the membership.
 

• Chief Negotiator - Edward Donahue (Tenured-Chemistry)
• Negotiator- Melissa Antinori (English  -NTTA)
• Negotiator-Michael Pelias (Philosophy - Adjunct)
• Negotiator-Jane Suda (Library -Tenure Track)

The Administration Team

• Chief Negotiator- Mr. Douglas Catalano (Jawarski & Fullbright)
• Negotiator- Elaine Crosson (Deputy University Counsel)
• Negotiator – Jeffrey Kane (VP for Academic Affairs)
• Negotiator Gale Haynes (Provost-Brooklyn)

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The Executive Committee has decided upon the following format for negotiations:
1) A core team (the Negotiating Team) will be present at all negotiating sessions where practicable and, through the Chief Negotiator, will be responsible for interactions with the Administration.
2) All Standing Committee Chairs are ex-officio members of the negotiations and will be called upon to participate when their expertise is needed.
3) The negotiating team will report to the Executive Committee at least once a month on the progress of negotiations.

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As their sixth proposal, the Administration presented something that Vice President Kane called a “recitation”.  He described it as an annual process whereby EVERY full time faculty member would submit a set of goals for the coming year and a list of accomplishments from the previous year.  These reports would go directly to the Vice President’s Office.
 

• What does this mean?
• Annual Post Tenure Review
• Even Worse, Post Tenure Review Without Peer Evaluation
• An Extra Level of Review for Non-Tenured Faculty Members, Outside of the Peer Review Process

This proposal represents a severe blow to the principals of Tenure, Academic Freedom and Peer Evaluation.  The Executive Committee strongly urges the faculty to carefully consider its implications!

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The present University policy on maternity leave is to adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).  Briefly, this states the following:
 

• The employer is required to provide up to 12 weeks of leave for an employee who is giving birth to a child, adopting, or caring for an ill family member.
• The employer is required to continue health care coverage during the period of a leave.
• In the case of natural childbirth, the employee will continue to be paid for 6 weeks of the leave and will be unpaid for the balance.
• In the case of Caesarian section, the employee will continue to be paid for 8 weeks of the leave and will be unpaid for the balance.

Article XVI, section 3, Sick Leave, states that “For the purpose of this Article, maternity will be treated as any other disability or illness.”  In this case, that means if a doctor certifies that an employee can not continue to work during the pregnancy, sick leave would apply (1 month for every completed year of service, up to a maximum of 6 months).  After the birth of the child, the employee would notify Payroll and then be placed on FMLA leave.

There appears to be some confusion regarding this policy and much unevenness in its application.  Due to the changing demographics of the Brooklyn Campus, this particular issue has taken on a greater significance.

Over the course of negotiations, your Union will develop and present proposals designed to expand maternity benefits and to clarify and fully codify them so as to avoid any future problems.
 

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There are several outstanding grievances being pursued on behalf of the membership:

Illegal Hiring:  The Administration removed a person from a deanship and placed that person in the faculty.  This person did not have faculty standing before becoming a dean and was not reviewed or approved by the faculty.  While the Union is sympathetic to the individual’s position, we had no choice but to uphold the contract.  A grievance was heard on February 15th and we are awaiting the arbitrator’s decision.

Faculty Safety and Security:  Serious cause has been given for a senior faculty member to be concerned about personal safety due to the actions of another employee.  The Administration has done nothing too alleviate the problem.  Your Union has filed for arbitration and is awaiting a date

Adjunct Benefits:  An adjunct attempted to participate in a flexible healthcare savings plan, under the conditions stated in Article XXXVI, Section 4.  The Administration denied the adjunct access, claiming that participation in such plans by part-time employees is “Illegal”.  Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code makes no distinction between part- time and full-time employees, it only places restrictions on highly paid employees.  Therefore, the Administrations argument is, at best, mistaken and the Union has filed for arbitration.

Maternity Leave:  A faculty member was told that she would be charged vacation days over Spring Break during her maternity leave.  As no unit members are required to work during Spring Break and they are NOT charged vacation days, this is illogical and perhaps discriminatory.  The Union is waiting until the end of the current pay period in order to determine whether the vacation days were indeed charged.  If this is the case, we will immediately file a step 1 grievance.

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Nominations have closed and all current officers are running unopposed.  the current officers are:

Edward Donahue-President (Chemistry)
Rebecca States –Vive President (PT)
Michael Pelias –Treasurer (Philosophy)
Melissa Antinori –Secretary (English)
Joseph Filonowicz – Grievance (Philosophy)

This unique situation has not arisen before and there is no procedure set forth in the constitution.  Therefore, ballots will be sent out as required by the second week of April.

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