January 28, 2009, 12:17 pm

Hilda! Hilda! Hilda!

By The Editorial Board

Unemployment is rising as mass layoffs grip the nation.

Millions of Americans who need full time jobs can only find part-time work.

Waves of professionals and college graduates are working at jobs beneath the levels associated with their career and educational achievement, which is bad for them and bad for the workers who would otherwise have gotten those jobs.

The employment picture didn’t suddenly turn dismal. The Bush years saw the worst job growth of any business cycle since World War II. Wages stagnated, even as labor productivity rose, which means that the gains from work found their way not into paychecks, but into corporate profits, share prices and dividends. As a result, income inequality has reached levels not seen since the Gilded Age.

There will be a General Faculty Meeting to discuss the budget, college reorganization and other issues facing the campus. The MSP called for this meeting in mid-January and over 200 faculty signed a petition for the meeting in less than 72 hours.  The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 29, 2009   (4-6 p.m., CC Auditorium)

The UMass Labor Coalition is working with U.S. Congressman John Olver to lay out the case for a major investment in public higher education as a key step in overcoming the economic crisis.  Representative Olver, met with leaders of MSP and other campus unions on January 2.  He urged us to produce a concise statement of the issues, and promised to bring the arguments to the attention of Representative David Obey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, who will be central to the passage of an economic recovery bill.  The memo to Rep. Olver follows.
 
“We made the case to Representative Olver that public higher education was the key not only to the immediate economic crisis but also the long-term rebuilding of our economic vitality,” said Randall Phillis, incoming president of the MSP.

When all the unions met together on September 16 to kick off the "No on Question 1" campaign, we all committed to returning after the election to plan our strategy if our contracts were not resolved. That time is now: We need everyone to attend the all-union meeting at:

12 Noon

Monday, November 17

Campus Center Auditorium

With contract negotiations flagging, labor unions at the state's colleges and universities have filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the state Board of Higher Education and the board of trustees of the University of Massachusetts, accusing them of bargaining in bad faith.

The Department of Higher Education has authorized 4% (average) raises for non-unionized administrators at the state and community colleges for Fiscal Year 2009. This is approximately equal to last year's increase in the cost of living in New England as determined by the Department of Labor.

When the search for a new chancellor began last fall, there were many people who said that the Lombardi-Wilson debacle would lead to a failed search and that the campus would be in limbo for a couple of years. They were wrong.

We recruited you, Chancellor Holub, and despite some very frustrating times with the governor and Legislature, we can still say that you have arrived in what could become the "best of times" for a new chancellor. Though the governor's dismissive attitude toward higher education employees is disturbing, he has started to fulfill part of his commitment to be the "champion for public higher education in the corner office on Beacon Hill." In the past few months, we saw the release of a visionary report for all of public education, including a commitment to free community college, a billion-dollar life sciences initiative, and a $2 billion capital bill. You arrived at the right time, Chancellor Holub: With much skill and some luck, you could lead a decade of growth and improvement for UMass.

The MSP is pleased to have reached agreement with the administration on an important new investment in junior faculty, one which MSP has been advocating for several years.

The following is a brief summary. The full description of the program will be posted here soon.

Chancellor Holub has recently announced his intention to merge colleges, reorganize academic units, and possibly eliminate academic programs.  We are deeply concerned about both the substance and the process for these decisions.  Some proposed changes would constitute a reckless diversion of resources from the real problems on campus – including classes for students and support for faculty.  It is not clear that much if any money could be saved by the mergers, but it is clear that large scale mergers or realignments of departments or colleges would require significant effort by the faculty to be done correctly.  Rather than reorganizing academic units, we should be finding constructive and collaborative solutions, based on the knowledge of the people most intimately involved with conducting research and educating students.