Panel: Transformational Bargaining: How the Lecturers' Union at the University of Michigan Built Sufficient Power to Dramatically Improve Member Compensation

摘要

For the growing group of contingent nontenure track faculty in higher ed, organizing a union andbargain collectively has been a powerful way to improve abysmal working conditions. Every time aunion goes into contract negotiations, it is with hopes of making substantial gains for our members.Often those goals are only partially met. However, in LEO’s most recent negotiations (2017-18) we wereable to make substantial gains in both salary and benefits. We are here to tell you how we did it.We will start with some quick background about our union, so you will have the context forwhat happened this time. Then we will examine the factors that made the difference in this round ofbargaining. Some of those may be unique to our institution, but we hope that some of our innovationswill be applicable to your local context.