December 13, 2022
Hello All,
I hope this semester update finds you well and in good health.
This note serves to inform you about the UFF-FAMU efforts to work on your behalf during the fall 2022 semester. After months of what can be described in no other terms than “…stalling by the University CBA negotiations team…” the UFF-FAMU negotiations team finally had its first meeting with the Administration on Friday December 9, 2022 at 1pm. FYI, the last time that we sat down at the negotiations table prior to Friday was in June 2022. This University behavior is unacceptable, and UFF-FAMU is working very hard to have them bargain with us more regularly and fairly to provide FAMU faculty, students, and our stakeholders more across the board solutions to improve the environment.
We proposed several articles to the University starting in February 2022 through June. None of the University’s counter proposals represented any good faith effort to address faculty concerns. In fact, several counter proposals were redundant and meaningless. For instance, a counter proposal on Article 9 was the same on December 9 as it was in May of this year. We remind you, this is just one of many examples. The University’s responses to our Article 8, Article 9, and Article 11 can be found on UFF-FAMU’s website (www.rattlersweb.com). If you have any questions after reading the University’s proposals and or responses please write to us at uffatfamu@gmail.com.
We aim to keep the faculty members up to date with the latest negotiation information as we move forward in 2023. We hope to publish the “promised bargaining sessions” once they are scheduled and confirmed with administration. We would like for you to listen in and watch what happens in these meetings. We have been and are prepared to meet with the University, as frequently as weekly, to complete this negotiation process. Let’s not forget that the current “Yellow book CBA” expired on June 30, 2022. Both sides (i.e., BOT and FAMU faculty) are bound “…under the existing contract…” with the same rights and privileges contained within the 2019-2022 CBA unless/until a new agreement is reached. The UFF-FAMU is ready and has the needed authority to complete the next contract! We want a new CBA.
We along with our brother and sister labor union organizations (AFT, FEA, NEA, and AFL-CIO) are preparing to litigate for all our rights as Florida citizens and higher education faculty in the courts. But we need your help to organize and become more involved here in Tallahassee. Participate, watch, discuss, complete calls to your representatives, etc. as needed in the near term because we are engaged in a very challenging struggle that has absolutely nothing to do with old partisan lines.
We have increased our social activities with the help of Mrs. Hampton-Webster and Mrs. Ulee that planned and facilitated the November 2022 GOTV event at the FAMU Faculty Club House and the Happy Holidays event that we just had on 12/12/22 at JoEllen’s on West College Ave. Thanks to the members that came out and took the time to socialize, decompress, and discuss several different topics of interest. We need to do more of those things in my opinion. Thanks to our members from FAMU DRS not only for attending, but also for the sacrifices that you make every day in your profession as a K-12 teacher. Please share with your colleagues some of the things that we talked about. In closing, we also had representatives from other organizations attend the holiday event Nandi Riley FEA Secretary-Treasurer, Yvette Stennett FEA Chief of Staff, and Andre Cromatie AFSCME FAMU, President. We will continue to build our relationships!
Happy Holidays!!!
Roscoe Hightower Jr.