The University of Vermont faculty union announced Wednesday that it would withdraw an unfair labor practice complaint against the university after administrators agreed to engage in bargaining over matters related to Covid-19 and the fall semester.
The union, United Academics, says it has reached a settlement with UVM administrators, who have agreed to come to the bargaining table since the unfair labor practice complaint was filed against the school last month. The complaint came amid growing frustration among faculty members that they had been shut out of the planning process for the university to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
United Academics President Julie Roberts said that the school reached out to engage in bargaining just hours after the union filed the complaint, which centered around administrators not engaging in bargaining previously as workplace changes that the union said affected the collective bargaining agreement were made.
“We are talking about all of the safety provisions that they are making — or we would like them to make — as well as workload considerations,” Roberts said. “We’re getting a little bit more of an administrative ear on this.”
Roberts said that the administration has agreed to continue good-faith bargaining going forward.
“It was certainly a serious step, I think, for both sides — certainly for us, and given that the administration came back and offered to bargain within hours of our issuing it, I’m assuming it is for them, too,” she said.
As part of the settlement, Roberts, a linguistics professor, said she will be appointed to the UVMStrong Fall 2020 Advisory Committee tasked with planning reopening. The union will also appoint members to serve on the four working groups that report to the committee.
In an emailed statement to VTDigger, UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera wrote that the university “meticulously follows the requirements of our union contracts, as well as requirements established by Vermont law.”
Corredera said UVM is “pleased to engage” with the union.
“Long before United Academics filed its claim, UVM faculty have been active participants in the work that the UVMStrong Fall 2020 Advisory Committee is undertaking,” he wrote.
Corredera pointed out that planning working groups include the president, vice president and six other representatives of the Faculty Senate, all of whom are union members.
Some faculty members, though, remain concerned.
“It’s great — it’s what we should’ve been doing all along,” said geology professor Paul Bierman. “The faculty should’ve been on those committees in large numbers to articulate the voice of the people who walk in and out of classrooms day to day.”
Bierman said that a lack of faculty involvement in the initial decision-making contributed to what is now “awful” morale among instructors.
“I think the faculty are really tired and really demoralized as a whole, and are really scared that we’re being put on the front line with the students to teach face-to-face,” he said. “We’re taking the risks.”
Corredera said that the school is confident in its current public health protocols.
“Our decisions are informed by advice from medical and public health experts, and fully compliant with state and federal regulations,” he wrote. “We remain partnered with faculty as we always have been, and will continue to work with and through United Academics to address important considerations related to fall return.”
Bierman said he is cognizant of the “real and tangible worry” that not allowing all students to return to campus would leave the school in an inauspicious financial position. But with new coronavirus cases increasing in most states, Bierman said the university should reconsider its plan for the fall.
“It’s not the same set of facts that the university made the decision on back in late April and early May,” he said. “It’s a whole new world.”
