American Association of University Professors
Earlier this month, the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) ruled on the composition of the proposed bargaining unit for Miami faculty.
The ruling contended that only the full-time tenured/tenure-track and full-time non-tenure-track faculty on continuous contracts were part of a “community of interest” and eligible to be in the same bargaining unit. The more than 800 faculty who are eligible will have the opportunity to vote for a union between April 18 and May 2. The vote count will occur at SERB on May 17.
Unfortunately, the other faculty that the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) attempted to include in the bargaining unit–visiting assisting professors, librarians, and those who are 50% faculty and 50% staff–were excluded from the unit. Nevertheless, efforts already are underway to organize these faculty into separate bargaining units.
Congratulations to FAM for getting to this point! Faculty union organizing is a volunteer-led effort that takes years. We hope that all eligible Miami faculty will vote in favor of establishing the union to begin a new era of shared governance at Miami University!