Negotiations are tentatively scheduled for Fridays between now and the expiration of the current contract.
Update posted 4/16/18
Negotiations continue with LEO to reach a new contract to replace the current one that expires April 20. The university and LEO met on Friday, April 13 to discuss union security and economic issues.
The two sides recently reached agreements on benefits and job postings. The key issues that remain are union security, union rights and salary.
The university is scheduled to meet with LEO on Wednesday, April 18 and Friday, April 20 to continue negotiating the contract.
Update posted 4/8/18
Sunday night, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization informed the university that LEO, the union representing lecturers on all three University of Michigan campuses, will not call for a strike Monday and Tuesday.
The university and LEO bargaining teams met through the weekend and reported making significant progress in contract negotiations. Talks will continue this week.
Update posted 4/3/18
The university and LEO continue to negotiate a new contract and have added two additional bargaining sessions this week.
Last week, the university and LEO met on Wednesday and Friday, and continued to move closer to agreement on non-economic issues in layoff, performance evaluation and appointments. The parties are closer to agreement on benefits, bereavement time and certain leave provisions, although the parties still are not in agreement on both child care subsidy and parental leave. Salary is a significant topic that continues to be negotiated.
Child Care Subsidy
The university and LEO continue to disagree over creating a new child care subsidy for lecturers. Currently, undergraduate students, graduate students and graduate student assistants are the only groups to receive a subsidy for child care. Under the LEO proposal, utilization of the subsidy could cost the university in excess of $1 million.
Salary
The university has proposed further increases in the minimum salaries in Ann Arbor over its previous offer. The university has proposed increasing the minimum salaries over the course of the three-year agreement by $7,500 in Ann Arbor.
LEO’s latest proposal would cost approximately $46 million and represents a 67% increase to the salary base over three years. It also amounts to a 90% increase to the salary base in Flint and a 95% increase in Dearborn.
Despite the significant differences between the parties, the university remains committed to reaching resolution through the bargaining process before the contract expires on April 20, 2018.
Update posted 3/29/18
The university and LEO continue to meet weekly to negotiate a new contract and plan to meet in additional sessions in the coming weeks. Agreement has been reached on a number of key issues. One significant topic that continues to be negotiated is salary.
Salary and Benefits
The university has agreed to LEO’s proposal expanding benefits eligibility for lecturers. Under the current contract, lecturers must have a 50% appointment in both the fall and winter semesters in order to receive benefits coverage (health, dental, vision and life insurance, as well as long term disability coverage and legal plan coverage) in those semesters.
The new language would provide eight months of additional benefits coverage for lecturers whose fall and winter appointments averaged to 50% effort over the course of a year but whose winter appointment was below 50%. The university also has agreed to expand those eligible to receive benefits over the spring/summer semesters.
On salary, the university has proposed increasing the minimum salaries over the course of the three year agreement by $5,500 in Ann Arbor and $5,700 in Dearborn in Flint. This amounts to a 16% increase in Ann Arbor, a 20% increase in Dearborn and a 21% increase in Flint. This proposal is significantly higher than the minimum salary increases agreed to in the last three LEO contracts.
The university also proposed a 2.25% increase across the board in each of the three years of the contract in Ann Arbor. The university also proposed maintaining current contract language that salary increases in Dearborn and in Flint would remain tied to the tenure-track faculty salary program.
Performance Evaluation, Layoff and Job Security
LEO proposed over 100 substantive changes to the collective bargaining agreement, with over 50 changes in performance evaluation, layoff and job security. The parties have reached agreement on a number of changes including the following:
- The university agreed to move to ongoing appointments for long-serving lecturers, subject to periodic continuing reviews.
- The university agreed to move the layoff notice date of Lecturers I in Ann Arbor from August 25 to August 15.
- The university has agreed to provide expanded job security for most Lecturers I allowing for one-year appointments of lecturers when a unit anticipates work will be available during both fall and winter semesters.
Disability Accommodations, Collegiate Lecturer and Professional Development
The university has also agreed to the following:
- creating a disability accommodations procedure for lecturers
- expanding the Collegiate Lecturer program on all three campuses
- expanding the Professional Development Fund to include an inclusive teaching professional development fund on all three campuses
Update posted 2/26/18
The university and LEO continue to meet to negotiate a new contract. Since the beginning of bargaining in October, the university and LEO have met fourteen times for formal negotiating sessions. They continue to discuss a variety of issues, both economic and non-economic, including:
- benefits
- salary
- appointments
- performance evaluations
- professional development
- accommodations for employees with disabilities
There is no bargaining session the week of February 26 due to the university's spring break. Negotiations will resume on March 9.