November 23, 2009. What should the expectations about a faculty union be among the faculty at FAU? A common remark among FAU faculty members is, “The union doesn’t really do anything for me, so why should I join?” This reflects an aloofness from university affairs and faculty governance issues that is all too common in our profession. Yet it is exactly because we perceive ourselves as independent professionals rather than what we in fact are–salaried workers–that we are able to justify our remove from such concerns and dismiss what many of us haven’t taken the time to understand, much less take an active part in.

One who has some knowledge of US labor history understands that unions have often been collective endeavors borne of grim necessity. Yet UFF is often regarded by faculty along the lines of a plumber or electrician; there is little need to call on its expertise until a pipe bursts or a circuit fails. Then the “repairman” is blamed for having allowed the breach in service, instead of the home owner, who through apathy and disengagement has allowed their pipes or wires to decay. In this way, the assertion, “The union doesn’t do anything…” amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because UFF-FAU is the exclusive bargaining entity for faculty, we are behooved to take some interest in what the union does and what is at stake in grievance procedures and the collective bargaining process.

Our disengagement is reinforced by our professional credentials and status. Again, these obscure the fact that we have bosses and work for a living, much as we would like to think of ourselves along the lines of physicians or attorneys–again, as independent professionals. Wage dependence is especially acute for those of us in the arts, humanities and social sciences, because frequently we lack sufficient avenues to secure grants that would fortify our increasingly depressed salaries. Community college faculty, in contrast, are much less mystified by their credentials and more inclined to recognize their status as workers. Thus they are more involved with their unions and on average secure stronger bargaining agreements and better salaries–indeed often stronger and better than many of us with advanced degrees from highly-regarded institutions.

Your UFF chapter has the greatest potential for ensuring quality working conditions and better compensation, yet it cannot be effective without your involvement and support. Less like faculty governance bodies, which should be commended for the time and effort they devote to providing a forum for faculty concerns and furthering university curricula and scholarship, UFF is more impervious to the influence of university administrators. In this way, the Union is the only genuinely independent collective voice for faculty. This is exactly why the FAU administration regularly calls on one of the best labor attorneys in the state to beat back UFF demands for improved working conditions, benefits and salaries.

Yet through increased membership and involvement comes recognition. At Florida International University, for example, this same attorney takes an entirely different tack at the bargaining table because the FIU faculty union has over twice as many dues-paying members as FAU’s, and far more faculty involved in union activities. This is a major reason why FIU’s collective bargaining agreement is stronger, and why faculty there are paid on average 10% more than at FAU. It is also why FIU faculty received one-time bonuses and salary raises totaling 3.5% in their last bargaining session despite trying economic times. At almost the same time FIU faculty were winning at the bargaining table, FAU faculty were cowering at Frank Brogan’s layoff threats–threats that were eventually made good on.

Our expectations for satisfactory working conditions and salaries commensurate to our effort and achievements won’t be realized through an aversion to our status as workers who have specific rights expressly defined through the collective bargaining process. With this in mind, it is time to ask not what your union can do for you, but what we can do together to make our collective wishes and expectations a reality.

In solidarity,

James Tracy
UFF-FAU President