NULWU blog

We are very happy to announce that we have come to a tentative agreement on our first contract! Since our last bargaining session, we reached an agreement on the two remaining proposals, Compensation and Librarian Promotion.  For Compensation, we agreed that: Our salary floors for each position will be increased by at least 5% for every title, with some above 20%! For the first year of the contract, everyone will either receive a 3.75% increase, or the new salary floor, whichever is greater. Everyone will receive a 3% increase for the second and third years of the contract Non-librarian staff will receive percentage-based longevity raises at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years  For Librarian Promotion, we agreed that: Entry-level librarians will start at Assistant Librarian, and can get promoted to Associate Librarian after 5 years, and Senior Librarian 5 years after that We are promoted based on job performance, research and scholarly contributions, and service to the profession and university; we

Thursday’s bargaining session was eight hours long! Thankfully, our time was well-spent, and we are extremely close to finalizing our first contract. We are in agreement on Professional Development, Emergency Closings, Flexible Work, and Vacation. We are going back and forth on the remaining proposals: Librarian Promotion and Compensation. We didn’t come to any tentative agreements this session since all of these proposals are part of a package; we need to come to an agreement on all of them before we can TA. For Professional Development, we agreed that: Professional development funds for non-exempt staff will increase by 50% The University will pre-pay conference registration The University will pay for up to $250 of membership in professional organizations We will reinstate the portable tuition benefit for staff pursuing an MLS For Emergency Closings, we agreed that: If there is an emergency closing, only essential staff need to report to work in person If the University cancels clas

The end is in sight! Maybe? This session we finally reached tentative agreements on two outstanding non-economic proposals: Union Membership: after a long battle over whether the university would process deductions for COPE (SEIU’s political action committee), we have reached a tentative agreement. The university will process union dues and security fees but not COPE deductions. Layoffs and Furlough: we finally stepped off the merry-go-round on this proposal, as our negotiations had become a nightmarish back and forth over whether to “discuss” or “negotiate” the effects of furlough or layoff. The language doesn’t matter: the university is required under law to bargain with the union over the effects of a decision to furlough or layoff employees. We presented a counterproposal on Progression for librarians. Even though we have been pleased with the progress we have made together on this proposal, we were not enthusiastic about some of their conditions for progression, including requirem