Contract Bargaining
2024-2027 Successor Contract Bargaining
We had our first bargaining session for our successor contract on February 7th, 2024. MSP's team, in alphabetical order, consists of: Kate Hudson (College of Education), Marc Liberatore (CICS), Lori Reardon (MSP Senior Staff), Sigrid Schmalzer (History/HFA), Katie D'Urso (MTA) and Jeremy Smith (Libraries). We introduced ourselves, agreed to ground rules, and presented our principles, including our commitments to fair compensation, equity, sustainability, high-quality and well-rounded education for our students, and more. In the ground rules, we have agreed to meet every two weeks and to submit all new proposals by March 27, after which we will continue to meet until we have a deal in place.
One of our goals is to strive to achieve a fair and reasonable settlement in a timely fashion and MSP will use the power of our strong union membership to bring our members to the table to speak on particular issues when needed.
2024-2027 Bargaining Themes and Principals
Latest Bargaing Update
4/2/2024
As of March 27, 2024, all initial proposals from MSP and the administration have been presented, and we are preparing to discuss counter-proposals. We are committed to winning a great contract. As we move into the final months of the semester, we will be bringing members to the table to fight for what is most important to them. Now is the time to let us know if you are excited to testify on any of these issues!
We have presented a strong, thoughtful set of proposals that benefit faculty and librarians and the university as a whole, including across-the-board raises to catch up with years of inflation, and with special attention to items that have not been substantially updated for many years, including salary floors, merit raises, and support funds. We have also presented proposals to improve equity (including child care, sabbatical equity, and assistance with immigration) and climate justice (including green transportation). The full summary of MSP’s principles and proposals can be found here [https://umassmsp.org/campaigns/contract-bargaining/].
The administration has put forward a set of proposals that significantly curtail our members’ rights and which we cannot accept, including:
- allowing administrators to mandate online teaching
- increasing the probationary period before NTT faculty obtain continuing appointment
- reducing self-governance rights for librarians
- speeding up the termination process for employees on extended sick leave or facing other life-interrupting challenges
- limiting the scope of the salary equity review process
- preventing MSP from bringing members to grievance hearings
- removing minimum stipends for summer and winter teaching
- allowing administration to change numerous policies that affect faculty without bargaining with MSP (including policies related to sabbatical and other leave policies, intellectual property, conflict of interest, outside consulting, and additional compensation policies)
Please let us know which issues matter most to you and which you will help us win! We will be back in touch with specific times/dates of relevant bargaining sessions in the near future.
In solidarity,
Jeremy Smith
Kate Hudson
Katie D’Urso
Lori Reardon
Marc Liberatore
Sigrid Schmalzer
For more details on our proposals, please visit https://umassmsp.org/site/assets/files/1269/2023-2026_bargaining_themes_principles.pdf.
Contract Bargaining Update Archive
Bargaining udpates will be archived here
Kathleen Lugosch and Christine Turner on Bargaining [Watch on Vimeo]