Frequently Asked Questions

• Negotiation decisions require careful thought about the entire contract, not just discrete proposals. For example, we may need to trade one aspect of Benefits in order to win a better Compensation package for our members.
• Your democratically ratified priorities have guided the negotiation team over the last 18 months, as has your input at membership meetings and in correspondence and conversations. Please continue to keep in touch with your Negotiating Team about your priorities by coming to bargaining, attending membership meetings, and getting involved!
• Getting the contract you want takes action from YOU. Visible support and participation at FAM actions and bargaining gives your Negotiating Team leverage.

• Management wants to take away TCPLs’ right to presumptive renewal, meaning that after promotion, TCPL would no longer be on “continuing” contracts. It’s the difference between the security of knowing you have a job next year and the insecurity of waiting to find out whether management will renew you. 
• Management wants to add an additional layer of review for faculty who have achieved tenure. The new form of review lacks effective due process guidelines and creates redundant, unnecessary, easy-to-abuse opportunities to fire tenured faculty.
• To win on our priorities, tenured/tenure-track faculty and TCPL are stronger together. Let’s stand in solidarity to defend job security across the board.

• Negotiations always involve give and take, and this is our first contract. In successive contracts, we can work on securing what we didn’t get this time. We have made huge wins in our first contract. Like a historic MOU on AI, stronger academic freedom protections, and stronger protections in cases of discipline. 
• Closing a first contract is already a huge win! A legally binding contract will ensure management are held to specific processes and policies. Decisions affecting your employment can be challenged through a grievance and arbitration process. For the first time, faculty and librarians can enforce our rights.

Formerly, all decisions about your working life could be made unilaterally by the boss. Now, management must consult with you and your colleagues (represented by FAM) before making changes to your compensation or working conditions. What’s more, you are now able to invite a union representative to meetings with management. And the union will fight for you to set things right when they go wrong — as FAM did when a large number of faculty were not being paid in summer 2024.

Once the contract is ratified, you will be able to grieve (legally dispute) unfair treatment. With the union on your side, management can no longer unilaterally decide whether you’ve been treated fairly or unfairly. And never again will they be able to just decide not to give you a raise.

• Once your Negotiating Team has reached tentative agreement on all articles, we will share the contract with members and explain its provisions. You will have time to review, consider, discuss and ask questions about the contract. A democratic vote by the membership of FAM will follow. 
• Voting is by FAM membership only. All faculty and librarians who have signed membership cards to join FAM AAUP-AFT are eligible to vote to approve or disapprove the contract. Download or request your FAM membership card. 
• The faculty and librarian units will vote separately on their contracts; however, librarians and faculty remain part of one union, FAM.

First, we’re starting from scratch; in the next contract, we won’t have to negotiate every single thing in the contract. Second, employers always treat the first contract negotiation as a last-ditch effort to union-bust, hoping workers will lose faith in the union. 

How can you help speed things up? Help grow membership! Attend bargaining. Be vocal about your union. Respond to calls for action!

Management has refused to offer raises or even to offer a serious proposal on compensation. Your negotiating team proposed an MOU to management about giving bargaining unit members a raise while we bargain the contract, but management rejected it. They have already earned about $60,000 in interest on money that is rightly yours. Giving raises to other employees while bargaining is ongoing is a common union-busting move. 

Your negotiating team continues to push for a compensation package that not only makes faculty whole from the loss of wages once the contract is ratified, but will also secure future raises. As long as management continues to undervalue our work and role at this university, we must continue to make them feel the pressure of why we demand our compensation proposal. High FAM membership is leverage for the contract, as is visible pressure from you — showing up, turning out, and displaying FAM swag. To join your colleagues in putting on pressure, attend the FAM General Membership Meeting September 6, 2024!

Yes, back pay is a negotiating priority, and the last new union contract negotiated in Ohio (BGSU’s) did win back pay. Bear in mind that it’s the total package that matters for our pocketbooks. Our goal is to make faculty whole and better off than before. That could come through some combination of raise structure & back pay.

Of course, we won’t win by calculating a good package — we’ll win if faculty turn out and show management they are willing to fight for it. To make sure we get back pay, we need members to show up to bargaining and participate in organizing actions.

The union is you: faculty united to pursue shared goals. FAM units (whether tenured/tenure-track/TCPL, librarians, or visitors) will coordinate to negotiate contracts — a united faculty is a stronger faculty. To identify priorities, you and your colleagues will complete bargaining surveys for your unit and then discuss and democratically vote on contract priorities. Negotiating teams will comprise elected faculty or librarians from across the university. FAM is committed to democratic processes, diversity, equity and inclusion, and defending our educational mission. Beyond that, what FAM negotiates for is in your hands.

A faculty union can negotiate virtually anything related to the terms and conditions of employment. Typical faculty collective bargaining agreements in Ohio cover compensation, health benefits, grievance procedures, family leave, professional leave, sick leave, disciplinary procedures, and much more.

​In our one-on-one conversations, faculty’s top concerns have been shared governance, workload, and salary and benefit issues, as well as clarity and fairness in promotion/tenure decisions. Other faculty unions in Ohio have successfully negotiated for everything from the establishment of committees on diversity and inclusion to pandemic-specific memoranda of understanding (MOUs).

Possibly working at Miami has trained employees here to have low expectations! 7% barely catches us up to the cost of living increases of the past few years. What’s more, we were not given fair raises for several previous academic periods. FAM’s compensation proposals are meant to put us on even footing with others in academia and the region. The latest data from Ohio SERB shows average raises of 6.05% in the first year of the contract. FAM’s initial proposal is both reasonable and modest.

FAM’s pay proposal was developed by a group representing a wide range of faculty and librarian interests and needs and informed by diligent research. We had advice and assistance from national AFT and AAUP experts and our local union allies. Our Compensation Group includes a full professor with tenure from the department of Finance who is attentive to the university budget, a senior TCPL in the Humanities who was a longtime chair of the Faculty Welfare committee, a tenured faculty member from the Regionals, a tenured economics professor, and a librarian specializing in data science, among others. 

No. No one knows our workplace better than we do, so the best advocates and negotiators are faculty and librarians at Miami. Member-led bargaining is a best practice we decided on after consulting with our fellow higher ed unions in Ohio and beyond and participating in AFT and AAUP national trainings. Your negotiating team has consulted with attorneys throughout the bargaining process; the team also have the benefit of guidance from two experienced AFT national staff who sit at the bargaining table (each has decades of experience with bargaining). Management has spent millions on expensive unionbusting lawyers, but they’re not paying for arguments — they’re paying top dollar for carefully engineered delaying tactics. Management’s lawyers know as well as we do that legal arguments aren’t what moves a contract. The power to win a foundational contract comes from you: from colleagues united in a strong, democratic, member-led union, ready to fight for better pay and working conditions. 

Ohio law technically gives sole authority over workload to the boards of trustees of each campus. However, many Ohio faculty unions have MOUs regarding workload with their administrations as part of their contracts. As a union, you will have a voice in decision-making that affects your workload. Without a union, our employer can continue to make unilateral decisions about faculty workloads.

If you are a tenure-line or TCPL faculty member or librarian at Miami, you are automatically a member of the FAM bargaining unit and thus will benefit from what FAM is able to negotiate. 

You are not a member of the FAM union — and thus are not part of the collective leverage necessary for winning your priorities — unless you sign a membership card.

Union membership is strength and leverage to win on your contract priorities. A sizable membership demonstrates commitment to building and exerting power together, which helps win a stronger contract for everyone. Membership also means you can vote on the contract, FAM officer elections, dues, and other important FAM decisions. FAM is a member-driven, democratic union where your perspective matters.

To become a member, you’ll need to complete a printed FAM membership form. Here’s a PDF version you can print and email to info@famiami.org. Or, contact info@famiami.org or your liaison and we will bring or mail you a form.

No dues will be collected from members until the contract is agreed upon and ratified by the entire membership. Dues will be voted upon by FAM membership and negotiated with the university. At other unionized campuses in Ohio, they typically fall around 0.8%–1.2% of one’s base salary. Because of the “union wage premium,” you can expect that dues will be more than made up for by salary increases, given the bargaining power a union provides (see this US Treasury analysis). The majority of dues stay with the local chapter and are used at the discretion of the membership.

A union is not a solution in and of itself. Collective bargaining is a tool that allows you and your colleagues to come together and advocate for better compensation and working conditions. Your union would give you a legal basis to negotiate items that are currently at the sole discretion of Miami’s upper administration and board of trustees.

Unions don’t protect faculty from negative performance reviews and their consequences, but instead ensure that when these things happen it is because a faculty member is actually not pulling their weight instead of other reasons. The goal of a union contract is to create transparency for faculty by setting the parameters of what is expected as far as work. If someone is not living up to this a union cannot stop them from being fired or reprimanded but does ensure that we all receive due process. By having expectations written down in a contract and by outlining a process for faculty to be reprimanded or fired, we can provide protection from arbitrary dismissals.

FAM informed Miami at the start of negotiations that they are welcome to do retention raises. They just need to consult with us and share the details so we can track the data — we will be assessing it to look at equity issues.

No. Unionized schools include many of the research-intensive peer institutions listed on Miami’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness website, among them Rutgers, the SUNY system, NJIT, the University of South Florida, and the flagship public universities of Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

No. While compensation at unionized universities is higher than at non-unionized universities, salaries at a given institution do not go up in lock-step. Contracts often specify salary floors for faculty and librarians, but not salary ceilings. If you look at collective bargaining contracts across the country, you’ll see that merit raises are usually part of the contract. Contracts also establish processes for addressing compensation inequities and for offering competitive salaries to hire and retain strong faculty.

No. Where union contracts have secured raises for faculty and librarians, they have typically done so across the board. If the entire faculty gets a 3% raise, the highest-paid faculty members will receive the largest raises in terms of dollars.

The example of Bowling Green State University is illustrative: Before they unionized in 2010, BGSU faculty salaries were very low (12th out of 13 Ohio publics, not counting OSU). Thanks to across-the-board raises, they are now above the median. BGSU faculty also receive merit raises in addition to across-the-board raises. If Miami unionizes, you and your colleagues can expect to do better in terms of pay!

No. A strike can only be authorized by a vote of the members, so you and your colleagues will only go on strike if you decide collectively to do so. Regardless, it is illegal for a union to force an individual to strike. Note that strikes happen rarely and are a tactic of last resort. When you and your colleagues stand together as a united faculty, differences are likely to be resolved well before you resort to a work stoppage

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FAM had hoped to include all full-time faculty in the bargaining unit. But Miami filed an objection to including any non-tenure-track faculty (TCPL, VAPs, instructors, TCPL, librarians, and hybrid faculty/staff) in the unit.

A SERB judge then ruled that only tenure-track and TCPL faculty would be included in the unit.

The excluded faculty are currently organizing into separate units as part of the FAM union. Organizing together as one union, even in separate units, prevents divisions and gives the union strength in numbers.

Individually, Visiting Faculty (Visiting Assistant Professors and Instructors) have little control over our working lives, but together, we have the power to create a better Miami. A union is an association that protects the rights and interests of its members. As a union, you and your colleagues would have the legal right to negotiate with the university on terms and conditions of your employment—including benefits, terms of appointment, shared governance, salaries, and anything else the membership has voted to prioritize. Unlike current governance structures (which are subject to unilateral decision-making by our employer), our faculty union can negotiate binding agreements that support shared governance, academic freedom, and economic security at an especially uncertain time at Miami and for universities in general.

A union is not a solution in and of itself. Collective bargaining is a tool that allows you and your colleagues to come together and advocate for better compensation and working conditions. Your union would give you a legal basis to negotiate items that are currently at the sole discretion of Miami’s upper administration and board of trustees.

Unions don’t protect faculty from negative performance reviews and their consequences, but instead ensure that when these things happen it is because a faculty member is actually not pulling their weight instead of other reasons. The goal of a union contract is to create transparency for faculty by setting the parameters of what is expected as far as work. If someone is not living up to this a union cannot stop them from being fired or reprimanded but does ensure that we all receive due process. By having expectations written down in a contract and by outlining a process for faculty to be reprimanded or fired we can provide protection from arbitrary dismissals.

No. Unionized schools include many of the research-intensive peer institutions listed on Miami’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness website, among them Rutgers, the SUNY system, NJIT, the University of South Florida, and the flagship public universities of Connecticut, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Yes. Of the 14 public institutions in Ohio, only 3 do not have a faculty union (OSU, OU, and NEOMED). Many units include faculty librarians and visiting faculty. There are more than 200 four-year colleges & universities that have unions with collective bargaining.

Ohio law explicitly excludes part-time faculty and graduate students from collective bargaining rights unless they have the explicit permission of the institution’s executive officer.

While a faculty member is serving as department chair, they cannot vote in a union election or participate as a union member. When chairs leave the chair position and resume regular faculty duties, they are then able to join and fully participate. Faculty who are program directors, on the other hand, may be eligible. A minimum of 50% of one’s job responsibilities needs to be academic to be in the collective bargaining unit.

Yes, if a union is certified, you and your colleagues would be able to choose whether or not to be dues-paying members of our union . Either way, everyone in the certified bargaining unit would be represented by the union and their terms and conditions of employment would be governed by what is negotiated between the University and our union. Thus, you benefit even without joining, but the union is only as strong as your participation in it, so we encourage everyone to join because we will be able to bargain for a better contract.

Dues must be voted upon by the membership and negotiated with the university. At other unionized campuses in Ohio, they typically fall around 1%–1.5% of one’s base salary. Because of the “union wage premium,” you can expect that dues will be more than made up for by salary increases, given the bargaining power a union provides (see this US Treasury analysis). No dues will be collected from members until the contract is agreed upon and ratified by the entire membership. The majority of dues stay with the local chapter and are used at the discretion of the membership.

Vote yes for a VOICE. With a union, faculty have a greater role in university decision-making.

Vote yes for a VISION of a better future. Your union can negotiate binding agreements on shared governance, academic freedom, & economic security.
​
​Vote yes for our MISSION. Faculty working conditions are student learning conditions. Miami’s educational mission is FAM’s top priority.

Because Miami faculty and librarians are public employees, our union follows the State of Ohio’s collective bargaining law (Ohio Revised Code 4117). While there are nuances, the basic legal process involves:

1. A minimum of 30% of eligible faculty sign cards indicating they would like to hold an election on whether to establish a union, or a minimum of 50% can sign cards to request either recognition or an election. In FAM’s case, a supermajority of Miami faculty signed cards and FAM filed for recognition in February of 2022
2. The employer has the opportunity to file objections to the composition of the bargaining unit. While FAM sought an inclusive all-faculty unit, Miami objected to including any non-tenure-track faculty. After almost a year of delays, a SERB judge decided that only TCPL and tenured/tenure-track faculty would be included in this first FAM unit. Thus, these faculty are able to vote in the first FAM election. Other faculty were unfortunately excluded from FAM’s first unit, but can go on to organize into other units as part of the FAM union.
3. When the bargaining unit composition is decided, SERB conducts an election. A simple majority (50% + 1) of the ballots cast is required to form the union.
4. More details regarding this process are available on the SERB website.

No. While compensation at unionized universities is higher than at non-unionized universities, salaries at a given institution do not go up in lock-step. Contracts often specify salary floors for faculty and librarians, but not salary ceilings. If you look at collective bargaining contracts across the country, you’ll see that merit raises are usually part of the contract. Contracts also establish processes for addressing compensation inequities and for offering competitive salaries to hire and retain strong faculty.

No. Where union contracts have secured raises for faculty and librarians, they have typically done so across the board. If the entire faculty gets a 3% raise, the highest-paid faculty members will receive the largest raises in terms of dollars.

The example of Bowling Green State University is illustrative: Before they unionized in 2010, BGSU faculty salaries were very low (12th out of 13 Ohio publics, not counting OSU). Thanks to across-the-board raises, they are now above the median. BGSU faculty also receive merit raises in addition to across-the-board raises. If Miami unionizes, you and your colleagues can expect to do better in terms of pay!

No. A strike can only be authorized by a vote of the members, so you and your colleagues will only go on strike if you decide collectively to do so. Regardless, it is illegal for a union to force an individual to strike. Note that strikes happen rarely and are a tactic of last resort. When you and your colleagues stand together as a united faculty, differences are likely to be resolved well before you resort to a work stoppage

The most important thing to know is that your “yes” vote on unionization is anonymous. You can feel secure in supporting the union privately, with no chance of it affecting your promotion or tenure case. Also, unionization is relatively common at universities and, because of the public status of Miami, the university would face backlash if they were to directly fire anyone. It is important to note that retaliation against faculty for union participation is illegal. The AAUP would not hesitate to pursue legal action if such a case emerged.

First things first, unionization will not have an impact on visa status. The State Department pamphlet on rights for individuals working in the US explicitly states that you have the right to a union regardless of your immigration status.” In addition, other faculty unions, for example United Academics of Oregon State University, have been able to negotiate for additional support for international faculty such as financial support to cover fees for visa applications.

While Miami’s advocacy chapter has had some success advocating for faculty, it cannot bring the university to the table to negotiate a binding agreement. Having a union means bargaining a legally enforceable contract that covers aspects of your employment over which you currently have little or no say.