FAM and University Librarian’s agreements ratified by Trustees

The Miami University’s Board of Trustees ratified both the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) and University Librarians’ collective bargaining agreements in an off-campus meeting in Columbus on April 3.

The vote comes after more than a year of negotiations that ended on Feb. 24.

Negotiations and the resulting agreement covered a vast array of talking points, including compensation, intellectual property and the ability to strike.

For both FAM and the Librarian’s bargaining unit, the contracts include a compounded annual wage increase of 9.27% while librarians will recieve 7.5%. Additionally, the contracts also contained new mechanisms to solve workplace disputes and clauses surrounding academic freedom.

In an email sent out on Friday, Academic Affairs wrote that the agreement also “outlines the new definition of grievances, procedures for appeals of discipline and arbitration by an outside neutral arbitrator of final appeals, as needed.”

Theresa Kulbaga, lead faculty negotiator and chair of communications and social media for FAM, said that FAM is excited to close their first contract.

“Closing and ratifying a first contract is already a huge win,” Kulbaga said. “Thirty percent of new unions never close their first contract. We are proud to have something to build on into the future.”

The proposal was expected to pass the Board of Trustees with little difficulty after a tentative agreement was reached between the union and university about a month ago.

“We’re glad the Miami [Board of Trustees] sees the value of working with FAM to implement these contracts,” Kulbaga said, “and we look forward to doing that in the coming weeks.”

greenpt@miamioh.edu