Collective Bargaining Management Update

This update reports on the progress of contract negotiations between Kent State University and AAUP-KSU from today's bargaining session. In response to AAUP-KSU's most recent counter proposal on salary, the university again enhanced its tiered salary proposal, as described below:

In addition to adding a 1 percent increase in the third year for the university's highest paid faculty members, the proposal also includes a $1,000 increase in the promotion increment from associate professor to professor from $9,000 to $10,000.

After a brief caucus today, and much to our surprise, AAUP-KSU formally and unilaterally declared an impasse. The AAUP-KSU's chief negotiator informed the university's chief negotiator that the union will contact the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to request a mediator. This is an unusual step to take at this point in the bargaining process, particularly given the university's good faith in meeting regularly, exchanging proposals, and the university's submission of counterproposals on various topics, including the university's offer today of additional increases in its salary proposal.

AAUP-KSU continues to reject any consideration of the university's tiered salary proposal, and has offered no realistic counter-proposal to advance negotiations on faculty salaries. To clarify the university's current proposal on salary increases, we believe it is important to understand that AAUP-KSU has attempted to translate our proposal to a traditional across-the-board equivalent in its communications with the faculty. We believe that this re-calculation of the university's proposal is misleading and intentionally minimizes the overall impact of the proposal for the university's faculty members, particularly those making $100,000 or less.

• The AAUP agrees with, and has historically argued in favor of, a tiered approach to employee contributions for health care benefits. Currently, higher paid employees pay more for their health benefits than those who have lower salaries – an approach that has been fully supported by AAUP-KSU. If AAUP-KSU believes the university's tiered salary approach "disrespects" highly-paid faculty, wouldn't this also be true for its approach to the sharing of health care costs? This inconsistency is difficult to explain.
• At least one unionized, public university in Ohio has negotiated a tiered approach to salary increases to great success. Reports indicate that the faculty and the union leadership at this university are quite satisfied with this approach. This university and its faculty union were able to work together to negotiate meaningful salary increases while also managing budget difficulties.
• In the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, Kent State demonstrated its strong commitment to our most productive faculty members through the President's Faculty Excellence Awards. Nearly 100 percent of these awards went to tenured faculty, and of that, 75 percent were awarded to full professors. These awards resulted in $400,000 added to faculty base salaries since academic year 2016.
• At a time of worrisome enrollment decline (nearly 2,000 over two years on the Kent Campus) and given its financial impact, adopting a tiered approach allows the university to offer the most impactful raises to the largest number of faculty members. Moreover, tiered increases provide similar salary increase amounts for all faculty.

HEALTH CARE BENEFITS: Now that open enrollment has started for the 2019 benefit year, the university informed AAUP-KSU at today's session that our initial proposal on health benefits remains unchanged with the effective date changed to the 2020 benefit year. This proposal would make all employee groups consistent in terms of their coverage and plan options effective January 2020.

The university is hopeful that additional bargaining sessions will be scheduled as the mediation moves forward, and we will provide additional updates on our progress.