NATIONAL CENTER
for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions
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@HigherEd_CB
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This March 2020 newsletter is being issued during very challenging and difficult times caused by the world-wide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
We urge you to follow the
health and safety directives
issued by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, state and local government officials, along with instructions from your employer and union to help protect yourself, family, and most importantly, your community from getting and spreading the virus.
We thank you for your acts of kindness and solidarity toward colleagues, students, campus workers, partners, parents, children, friends, neighbors, and strangers.
This month's newsletter includes a reminder that the National Center has postponed our 2020 national conference. We are considering offering webinars over the next few months, and request that you respond to our short survey below to help us make that decision.
The newsletter includes links to articles from Volume 11 of the Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, which was recently published, an analysis of negotiated sick leave provisions in recent first contracts for adjunct faculty, updates on some recent decisions and collective bargaining legislation, and much more.
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Important Reminders on National Center 2020 Conference Postponement
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The National Center has decided to postpone our March 29-31, 2020 annual conference in response to the pandemic and seeks to reschedule it for some time during the Fall semester.
The Hilton New York Fashion District has been notified of the postponement and we urge you to cancel your hotel registration
immediately
. The hotel's number is 212-858-5888.
The necessity for postponing the annual conference is self-evident due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
outbreak. We have decided to postpone, rather than cancel, the 2020 Conference because we hope to preserve the ten months of preparatory work that led to an extraordinary
conference agenda
tied with the important theme of Inequality, Collective Bargaining, and Higher Education. Paid registrations will be applied to the rescheduled conference or our 2021 annual conference.
We are consulting with the event venue about potential dates for a rescheduled conference, and hope to announce them in the weeks to come. We are also exploring the possibility of turning certain select conference panel topics into web-based presentations over the next few months. In the meantime, the National Center will be continuing with our on-going research.
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Participate in the National Center's 2020 Webinar Survey
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The National Center requests that you respond to our
short survey to help us determine whether we should try to begin offering web-based presentations in the next few months on select topics from our 2020 conference agenda.
The necessary measures instituted to stop the spread of
coronavirus (COVID-19), including remote teaching and social distancing, have disrupted our work and personal lives. Those measures, along with the fears created by the pandemic, can increase a sense of isolation and lack of community.
One way of retaining a
sense of community during this emergency situation are substantive webinars that will allow for interaction. At the same time, we recognize that a feeling of online fatigue might have already set in, resulting from the emergency measures put into place. The survey results will help us decide whether National Center webinars would be welcomed and beneficial.
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Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, Vol. 11
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The National Center is pleased to announce publication of Volume 11
Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy, our a peer review multi-disciplinary journal co-edited by Jeffrey Cross, Eastern Illinois University (Emeritus), and Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona.
Introduction by Editors Jeffrey Cross and Gary Rhoades
For more than 50 years, collective bargaining of academic employees on college and university campuses has entailed negotiations about bread and butter, quality, and broader social issues, impacting terms and conditions of academic employment and the trajectory of higher education institutions. Today, faculty and other academic employees in higher education institutions are unionized in 31 states and the District of Columbia. In this volume thoughtful scholars, practitioners, and observers chronicle and advance inquiry and practice in academic collective bargaining. The volatility of academic collective bargaining in recent years is embodied in the changing landscape surrounding the organizing of graduate student employees in private universities. It’s embodied as well in the recent proposed rule change offered by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), in regard to graduate assistants’ statutory bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act. William Herbert and Joseph van der Naald detail comments submitted by the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in the Academy and the Professions pertaining to NLRB proposed rulemaking seeking to deny and bar graduate student employee collective bargaining under the NLRA.
Volume 11 also includes three empirical studies of the iterative process and impacts of faculty collective bargaining. Each is a case study of important and complex issues confronting academic employees and institutions. Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Laurel Smith-Doerr, Henry Renski, and Laras Sekarashih present a comprehensive longitudinal study of gender pay equity in academe negotiated over a series of contracts at one public research university. Stephen Jacquemin, Christine Junker, and Mark Cubberley empirically explore the too-little-studied effects and process of a relatively prolonged faculty strike at a Mid-Western University and its multiple campuses in relation to college student academic achievement. Leah Akins and Laura Murphy address a negotiated process of bargaining peer-based evaluations and student surveys at a community college during contract negotiations that included an administrative proposal for more emphasis on student evaluations of teaching.
Two additional articles take on key questions in national and international perspectives. Louis Shedd, Stephen Katsinas, and Nathaniel Bray use a new mission-driven classification system to categorize 1,522 public academic institutions and the presence of a collective bargaining agreement to address questions pertaining to funds available for compensation and whether there are differences among community colleges, regional universities, and flagship universities. And Barry Miller provides a comparative perspective from Canada on normative collaborative faculty contract negotiations that proved to be successful. Such “social unionism” issues are increasingly important to new generations of academic employees and in a context in which the public benefits of higher education are increasingly being questioned.
From the practitioners’ perspective of those engaged in academic collective bargaining, Jennifer Eagan describes California Faculty Association priorities that extend beyond wages, hours, and working conditions to center issues of social justice. As a long-time contingent faculty member, Deirdre Frontczak examines the too-long accepted adverse impacts of increased part-time and adjunct faculty hiring practices on the academic freedom of the majority of the academic workforce.
Two commentaries bring us back to the issue of the impacts of collective bargaining and the volatility of collective bargaining rights. Daniel Julius comments on the history and trajectory of the study of faculty collective bargaining and highlights the need to re-invigorate scholarship in this field of practice. James Castagnera offers observations on recent faculty collective bargaining at private colleges and universities bucking a trend of stagnation since the 1980 Yeshiva Supreme Court decision.
We entrust this volume to the scholars/practitioners in the field of academic collective bargaining, extend sincere thanks to the contributing authors and peer-reviewers, and hope that their thinking informs, enlightens, and enhances the practice of collective bargaining in the academy.
Op-Eds:
Articles:
Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Laurel Smith-Doerr, Henry Renski, and Laras Sekarasih,
Practitioner Perspectives
We encourage scholars and practitioners in the fields of collective bargaining, labor relations, and labor history to submit artilcs for potential publication for Volume 12 of the Journal.
The Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from TIAA and is hosted by the institutional repository of Eastern Illinois University.
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The Coronavirus Pandemic and Negotiated Sick Leave for Adjuncts
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The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is upending the lives of working people around the country and
worsening systemic inequalities
. If epidemiologists’ predictions are correct the most deadly phase of virus’ spread in the United States has
yet to come
.
Those who are perhaps bearing the greatest burden of the crisis are service workers in the United States. From teachers, to nurses, to musicians, to hotel workers, to bartenders, to retail clerks and Uber drivers, individuals whose livelihoods consist of contact with others are disproportionately at risk of spreading the virus and failing ill themselves. The massive and unprecedented contraction in the economy leaves many workers vulnerable to unemployment.
Colleges and universities nationwide, from the
West Coast
to the
East
, are cancelling in-person classes and have instructed faculty and teaching assistants to transition their courses online to facilitate social distancing and prevent further transmission. On many campuses, non-essential employees are increasingly being directed to tele-work instead commuting.
The Washington Post published a
story
this week about the pandemic’s impact on contingent faculty, many whom lack job security and access to sick leave benefits in the event of exposure to the virus. Recent
federal
and
state
legislation should ensure sick leave benefits for some under quarantine.
The National Center has sampled a collection of collective bargaining agreements for part-time non-tenure track faculty ratified between 2012 and 2019 to identify contracts that include provisions for paid sick leave or include provisions that allow for the use of leave time for absences due to illness.
We have found that of the contracts sampled, sick leave provisions are more common in public sector contracts covering part-time non-tenure track faculty than in private sector agreements. Among 16 newly ratified public sector part-time non-tenure track contracts, 56% had paid sick leave provisions (two with unpaid sick leave provisions or provisions without stipulations for leave with pay but that allow for sick leave). In contrast, among the twenty-seven private sector contracts sampled, 22% include paid sick leave provisions.
Of those newly ratified public sector contracts with paid sick leave provisions, over half are at community colleges.
One such example is the part-time non-tenure track contract at
Tompkins Cortland Community College
, where faculty are represented by New York State United Teachers (NYSUT). Article 11 entitles faculty to one day of paid sick leave per academic year but allows for additional seventy hours of paid “Bargaining Unit Leave” to be allocated to individual faculty in the bargaining unit depending on need.
Among private sector units, the contract at
Minnesota College of Art and Design
, where faculty are represented by SEIU, includes provisions in Article XV for the accrual of paid sick time proportional the number of hours worked. Sick time can be utilized if the faculty member has fallen ill or if the faculty member must care for a sick household or family member.
It should be noted that this analysis of recent first contracts is in no way representative of all faculty contracts. First contracts for any bargaining unit tend to include fewer provisions than subsequent contracts when the relationship between a college or university and the union has matured. Further,
some institutions are located in states or municipalities with paid sick leave laws for workers (one such example is
New York City
). Contracts may therefore not include sick leave provisions because workers are already covered. Further, certain contracts in Massachusetts reference state law provisions for paid sick leave. One such example can be found in Article 16, Section 4 of the non-tenure track faculty contract at
Boston University
, negotiated by SEIU.
This research reinforces the important role that collective bargaining can play in securing health and safety on college and university campuses and avoid the uneven spread of risk across different groups of faculty and staff.
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New School: Grievance Sustained Over International Student Fee Rebate
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The New School and Student Employees at the New School, SENS-UAW Local 7902
On February 28, 2020, Arbitrator Daniel F. Brent issued a decision and award sustaining a grievance by Student Employees at the New School (SENS-UAW) alleging that the New School violated Article XXIII of the parties'
collective bargaining agreement, which became effective September 1, 2017, by failing to rebate the cost of a new international student services fee.
During the Fall 2019 semester, the New School announced a new international student services fee for all enrolled international students with an F-1 or J-1 visa. The purpose of the fee is to cover the New School's administrative costs including providing the necessary services for processing forms necessary for retaining student immigration status.
Under Article XXIII, an academic student worker who works 5 hours per week or more (at least 75 hours per semester/session) in a unit position is entitled to a 100% rebate of the university services fee. Prior to the imposition of the new international student services fee, the university services fee was the funding source for the administration services provided to international students.
In his decision and award, Arbitrator Brent concluded that Article XIII of the contract must "be deemed to extend to visa and similar services and orientation and activities for international students, as provided in the past and at the time the agreement was negotiated." Therefore, he ordered that any bargaining unit member who met the criterion of Article XIII must be granted a rebate of a international student services fee paid and is exempted from the making a future payment of the fee.
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New College of Florida: Post-Docs Added to Faculty Unit
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New College of Florida Board of Trustees, FPERC Case No. U-2019-034
On February 20, 2020, the Florida Public Employee Relations Commission (FPERC) issued a decision granting a petition by the New College of Florida t
o clarify
a bargaining unit of
faculty
and other professionals represented by United Faculty of Florida (UFF) to include postdoctoral fellows and postdoctoral associates.
Both petitions had been created subsequent to the certification of the bargaining unit, and the college and UFF had stipulated that the positions shared similar wages, hours, and other terms of conditions of employment with the faculty and other professionals in the bargaining unit.
As a result, the original 2003
certification
of the bargaining unit was amended by FPERC to include postdoctoral fellows and postdoctoral associates.
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Southern Illinois University: Dismissal of Faculty ULPs Affirmed
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Bakul Davé v. State of Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Case No. 1-19-0148
On February 21, 2020, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District issued a decision denying a petition for review filed by Bakul Davé, a former chemistry professor at Southern Illinois University. Davé had challenged an order by the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB) that dismissed his unfair labor practice charges against Southern Illinois University.
Davé had been terminated in 2014. His union, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Faculty Association, IEA-NEA, successfully pursued a grievance to arbitration resulting in a decision and award reinstating Davé.
At the time of his reinstatement in the Spring 2016 semester, Davé's former office and laboratory space were occupied by other faculty members. The university was unsuccessful in having the other faculty members voluntarily move to accommodate Davé's request to be assigned to his former workspace. As an alternative, the university offered Davé three other options for his laboratory and office space, which he declined. Thereafter, the university investigated and sought to accommodate Davé's health and safety concerns relating to his assigned workspace.
Following Dave's refusal to teach Chemistry 106 and Chemistry 579 during the Spring 2017 semester, the university commenced a disciplinary investigation and placed him on administrative leave. The investigation found no justifiable reason for Davé's refusal to teach the two chemistry courses. Following a review of a recommendation, interim provost dismissed Davé in June 2017 from his faculty position for failing to perform his assigned duties.
In response to his termination, Davé filed unfair labor practice charges with
IELRB alleging that the university had failed to comply with the original arbitration award reinstating him, and that his second termination was in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.
IELRB dismissed as untimely, the allegation that the university had failed to comply with the arbitration award. The agency also found that Davé failed to demonstrate a casual connection between his protected activities and being placed on administrative leave and discharged.
In affirming IELRB's decision, the appellate court found that Davé had failed to establish that his protected activities was a substantial or motivating factor underlying the decisions to place him on administrative leave and to discharge him.
Specifically, the court stated:
"There is nothing in the record to show that SIU placed petitioner on unpaid administrative leave or terminated him due to anything other than his refusal to appear for and teach his assigned courses. There is nothing in the record that demonstrates the existence of any factors in which the Board could have inferred that SIU terminated him or placed him on administrative leave because he had previously engaged in protected activity, such as any evidence to infer that SIU expressed hostility towards unionization, engaged in disparate treatment of employees, demonstrated a pattern of conduct that targeted union supporters, that SIU changed its explanation for its decisions, or that there were any inconsistencies between SIU’s reason for its decisions and other actions it took."
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Janus v. AFSCME: Sixth Circuit Rejects Retroactivity Argument
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Lee v. Ohio Education Association, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
Case No
. 19-3250
On February 24, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the dismissal of a post-
Janus v. AFSCME Council 31
lawsuit seeking retroactive reimbursement of agency fees paid prior to the Supreme Court's 2018 decision. The lawsuit was brought by Sarah Lee, a public school teacher employed by the Avon Lake School District in Ohio against the school district and the Avon Lake Education Association.
The Sixth Circuit concluded that the
Janus
decision was not intended to be applied retroactively, and that the defendant union was legally entitled to rely in good faith on Ohio's collective bargaining statute and Supreme Court precedent prior to
Janus
upholding the constitutionality of agency fees in public sector labor relations.
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Virginia: Lifts Ban on Collective Bargaining by Local Governments
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The Virginia state legislature has passed important
legislation granting
counties, cities, towns, and school boards with the authority to enact ordinances or resolutions creating union representation procedures with respect to their employees.
Under the legislation, a county, city, town, and school district would be required to adopt or reject a collective bargaining ordinance or resolution after receiving a "certification from a majority of public employees in a unit considered by such employees to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining."
The legislation would not permit collective bargaining at the state's higher education institutions, however. It would also maintain Virginia's anti-strike provision that treats a striking public employee as being terminated and renders her or him ineligible for public employment for a year.
The Virginia legislation that passed is much narrower than the alternative bill that would have created a uniform statewide system of public sector collective bargaining, It is likely that the decentralized collective bargaining regime adopted by the Virginia legislature will lead to disparities between local governments over bargaining unit composition and the scope of issues that can be negotiated.
Nevertheless, the bill is a significant first step forward in expanding workplace democracy in Virginia's government offices. As a matter of
history
, New York City created its own system of collective bargaining for municipal executive branch employees that included card check a decade before enactment of the Taylor Law, which expanded collective bargaining rights to the state workforce and local government employees throughout the state.
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South Dakota: New Ban on Collective Bargaining in Higher Education
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In the midst of the international pandemic, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has signed a bill into law banning collective bargaining for all employees of South Dakota Board of Regents but excluding those working for South Dakota School for the Deaf or the South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The bill ends state collective labor rights for 2,128 faculty (FT, PT, TT, NTT) and 2,034 non-faculty employees working for the Board of Regents at six state universities: Northern State University; South Dakota State University; University of South Dakota;
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology; Black Hills State University; and Dakota State University. Faculty at the six state universities have been represented since 1977.
The new law also provides that grievance appeals by university employees will now be heard and determined by the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation.
Included:
All full-time and regular part-time [a regular part-time employee is one employed in the current semester who is employed fifty percent (50%) but less than one hundred percent (100%) of the normal full-time load] Instructional-research faculty in colleges and universities, the Agricultural Experiment Station, Cooperative Extension Service, Auxiliary Services, the South Dakota School for the Visually Handicapped and the South Dakota School for the Deaf, who are not supervisors as defined in 47:02:01:01 (12). The unit does not include the Medical School, the Law School, or the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences.
Excluded:
Deans, Assistant Deans and Associate Deans; Directors, Assistant Directors and Associate Directors; Department Chairpersons, Assistant Chairpersons and Associate Chairpersons; Department Heads, Assistant Department Heads and Associate Department Heads; Principals, Assistant Principals and Associate Principals; Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents and Associate Superintendents; Program Managers, and others who are supervisory and managerial, and also emeritus faculty; teaching and research assistants, teaching fellows and graduate assistants, adjunct or clinical.
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Minnesota: Governor Walz Suspends Collective Bargaining Provisions
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On March 17, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued
Emergency Executive Order 20-07
that temporarily suspends during the current domestic emergency all negotiated contract provisions that limit "the appointing authority's ability to determine employee work schedules and hours of work; notice periods for changes in work schedules, work hours, or work locations; limitations on supervisor rescission of vacation approval; seniority requirements for filling vacancies, reassignment, or distribution of overtime or on-call work; restrictions on appointment, assignment or reassignment; and notice requirements for seasonal layoff and recall."
In his order, Governor Walz has also imposed a policy of paid leave for state employees who must be absent from work for reasons related to coronavirus (COVID-19), including but not limited to caring for their children due to school closure caused by the pandemic. He has also authorized the suspension of the 35-day waiting period necessary for new insurance-eligible state executive branch employees to receive the insurance coverage under an applicable collective bargaining agreement or compensation plan.
It is also
reported that Minnesota is reclassifying grocery store workers as emergency personnel, which will then eligible for free state child care during the outbreak.
However, the action of Governor Walz of suspending provisions of collective bargaining agreements might constitute an impairment of contract in violation of United States Consitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1, which states that "No State shall ... pass any ... Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts." In 2011, University of Minnesota Law Professor Stephen F. Befort published an insightful
article in the Buffalo Law Review examining the constitutionality of unilateral changes to negotiated public sector collective bargaining agreements in times of crisis.
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Vermont: Legislation Pending to Require Card Check Certification
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The Vermont legislature is considering a
bill that would require the Vermont Labor Relations Board, in certain circumstances, to certify a union based on a showing of support by 50% plus one of the employees in a bargaining unit found to be appropriate. If enacted, Vermont would be following states like New York, which has utilized card check for over half a century.
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NYU Labor and Center for Labor and Employment Law Events
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Our friends at the NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law have announced two upcoming events of interest. Both events are subject to postponement because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
On April 30, the NYU Center will be hosting a half-day conference on worker re-training and up-skilling, evaluating and exploring policies to help today's and tomorrow's workers meet the labor demands of both automating and human-touch workplaces. The conference, titled
Retraining America for the Future of Work
, will be co-facilitated by NYU Law Professors Samuel Estreicher and Jonathan F. Harris.
Secondly, the Center has announced that the 73rd Annual NYU Conference on Labor will take place on January 11-12, 2020. The conference theme is Addressing Pay Equity and Issues of Inequality at Work.
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LERA's 72nd Annual Conference Update
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The
LERA 72nd Annual Meeting
is scheduled for June 13-16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The theme of the conference is Social, Economic, and Environmental Sustainability and the World of Work. The National Center's Bill Herbert and Joseph van der Naald are scheduled to present their research at the conference.
Last week, LERA posted the following notice concerning the annual conference in light of the pandemic:
"LERA is considering how the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may impact the LERA 72
nd Annual Meeting, June 13-16, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Since it is a rapidly evolving outbreak and there is much to be learned, LERA will continue to closely monitor the situation and inform you of any policy changes in relation to our annual meeting. At this time, we have no plans to cancel the event.
It would be difficult if not impossible to re-schedule the event were it to be cancelled and we do want to ensure that our members will be able to participate in a meaningful exchange of cutting edge research and best practices in the field of labor and employment relations in 2020, as we have been anticipating for many months. So, we ask our colleagues to be as flexible as possible in accommodating changes that may be required to respond to the evolving situation, and we will be preparing contingency plans as necessary.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced yesterday that she is banning all public gatherings of more than 250 people statewide for four weeks, effective March 11 through April 11.
We will be monitoring
travel guidance from the CDC, and determining the best course of action for all meeting participants in the next 14 weeks.
We will continue to check on this public health situation and will relay any changes that may affect the LERA 72
nd Annual Meeting, June 13-16, 2019. Thank you so much for your interest in this organization, and for your support as LERA grapples with this extraordinary circumstance."
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COCAL Biennial Conference Dates and Location Announced
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The Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL) has announced that its 2020 biennial conference will be taking place on August 7-9, 2020 in Queretaro City, Mexico.
COCAL is a network of North American activists working to improve higher education by improving the work environment of contingent academic laborers. They strive to achieve job reliability, better wages, academic freedom, and time and resources for academic research and professional development.
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Teaching Labor's Story: Resources for the Classroom and Beyond
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TEACHING LABOR’S STORY
RESOURCES for the CLASSROOM & BEYOND
from the
LABOR AND WORKING CLASS HISTORY ASSOCIATION
Announcement and Call for Submissions:
Teaching Labor’s Story (TLS) is a project of the Labor and Working Class History Association (LAWCHA). Its on-line repository of chronologically organized materials is dedicated to providing teachers, labor educators, workers, and the public with resources that can be readily incorporated into existing curriculum.
Teaching Labor’s Story furthers LAWCHA’s mission to “promote public and scholarly awareness of labor and working-class history” and its commitment to “teaching labor history in the classroom, from K12 to colleges and universities.”
WHAT?
Each TLS entry has two parts:
· A primary source carefully selected to reveal labor voices, experiences and actions during a commonly recognized historical era or event. Primary sources may be textual, visual, or audio. (length: 1-2 pages)
· A custom-written teaching guide accompanies each primary source. Teaching guides follow a common template that includes a short essay that contextualizes and explains the source (highlighting both broad trends and noteworthy particularities); identifies the primary source’s connection to established history curriculum; and provides a brief glossary of terms, discussion or writing prompts, and suggests additional resources. (length 4-7 pages)
WHO?
Teaching Labor’s Story entries are written by labor history scholars. Each TLS entry is peer-reviewed. This ensures accessible, high quality teaching resources for users, and professional publishing opportunities for authors.
Interested in using TLS resources? Interested in writing a TLS entry?
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Center for Higher Education Leadership
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The Center for Higher Education Leadership
offers special programming and a bi-monthly newsletter designed for academic leaders in higher education to improve their management and leadership skills. The programming includes webinars and podcasts along with access to in-depth guides published six times a year.
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Job Posting: International Labor Rights Forum Executive Director
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The Board of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), a 34-year old non-profit based in Washington, D.C., seeks an Executive Director to lead the organization. The ideal candidate would be available to start on or before June 1, 2020. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2020, but applications will be considered as they are received.
ILRF is a human rights organization with a budget of almost $2 million a year, dedicated to promoting dignity and justice for workers in the global economy. More information about ILRF is available at
www.LaborRights.org.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Detailed knowledge of international human rights, international labor standards, and issues affecting workers in globalized industries.
- A commitment to movement building and grassroots organizing. An understanding of global labor movements, especially trade union movements in the Global South, strongly preferred.
- A post-graduate degree in law, development, human rights or other relevant field.
- Extensive experience managing in the social justice sector. Experience managing in a unionized staff environment strongly preferred.
- Fluency in English required. Proficiency in another language or other languages strongly preferred.
- Strong track record of non-profit fundraising from a diversity of sources.
- Experience developing and implementing advocacy strategies, including experience producing high-quality written material.
- Willingness to travel extensively, both domestically and internationally.
- Commitment to anti-oppression principles and practice, and experience and sensitivity in working in multicultural, multiracial environments.
Responsibilities of the Executive Director will include:
Strategic Leadership and Positioning:
- Play a leadership role with Board, staff, and allies to continuously evaluate opportunities and generate effective strategies in the context of changing landscape and evolving issues in this field, consistent with the ILRF’s mission, vision and values.
- Represent the organization in public fora, and guide relations with allies in the field.
Fundraising:
- Cultivate and manage funder relations, including with an engaged network of individual donors.
Administration:
- Organizational planning, monitoring and evaluation.
- Financial management (including developing and managing program budgets).
Board Relations:
- Engage and convene a Board of trade unionists, non-profit leaders, faith leaders, and other committed social justice activists to further the work and stature of ILRF.
Salary and Benefits: from $100,000 to $120,000 depending on experience. Benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance; paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave; SIMPLE IRA plan; and transportation reimbursement.
The ILRF is an equal opportunity employer and actively recruits women, people of color, persons with disabilities, and persons with diverse gender and sexual identities.
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Job Posting: Attorney for United Federation of Teachers
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The United Federation of Teachers, a 200,000+ strong union of educators and other professionals, seeks an attorney with specialized experience in labor and employment law, dealing primarily with the relationships between employers and unions. Must be a self-starter, diligent and have the proven ability to work with a wide range of people. Will require some evening work hours and frequent travel to various locations within the five boroughs.
Candidates must have experience in collective bargaining, both public and private preferred. Experience to include contract negotiation, drafting and preparation.
Trial and writing experience relevant to labor litigation as well as experience in the review and preparation of settlement agreements are preferred.
Excellent communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills within and across departments and externally is required. Must be able to work independently and as a team player with flexibility and be willing to work on a broad range of legal matters.
New York Bar Admission required. Minimum 4-6+ years of experience.
Excellent benefits package. EOE
Please submit a cover letter, resume, a legal writing sample (sample will not be returned), three references and law school transcripts by email to
UFTAttorney@uft.org
. No phone calls or walk-ins please.
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Job Posting: SEIU Union Representative/Organizer for Upstate New York
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Union Representative / Internal Organizer Based in Syracuse or Ithaca, NY
(with travel throughout NY state)
SEIU Local 200United is now hiring a
Contract Organizer
– a strategic, high-energy individual with a demonstrated ability to organize people and challenge power in the workplace.
For 100 years, SEIU members have fought for dignity, respect, and better conditions in our workplaces and communities. Our diverse leaders and staff support workers as they speak out for good jobs and better lives for themselves and their families. SEIU Local 200United is a Local chapter of SEIU that is made up of a wide variety of workers (15,000) in public, private, and federal sectors in Upstate New York and Vermont.
Responsibilities:
- Organize workers through communicating in one on ones and via small meetings to work collectively and build strong unions.
- Mentor and develop leadership among union members, stewards, and officers.
- Working with members to enforce their union contract through the grievance and arbitration process.
- Negotiate union contracts: both leading bargaining at the table and leading every aspect of contract campaigns from drafting proposals to organizing a member contract action team to actions including pickets, rallies, and strike preparation.
- Build external relationships with the community and workers to move the campaign and union movement forward.
- Encourage participation in political activities that hold elected officials accountable to working families.
- Assisting in creating communications materials including leaflets and newsletters.
- Carefully manage and maintain membership data to track and develop member activists, leaders and participation.
Qualifications:
- Demonstrated ability to work with people from diverse cultural, economic, and social backgrounds.
- Direct experience in field organizing for social justice or other issue campaigns.
- Commitment to the goals and principles of union organizing, workers’ rights, direct action, economic justice, and progressive issues.
- Ability to think clearly under pressure.
- Ability to create and follow through with a campaign plan from start to finish.
- Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously and meet established benchmarks and deadlines. Demonstrated ability to problem-solve independently while working as part of a team.
- Strong speaking and writing skills a must.
- Ability to function in a computerized smartphone environment. Functional ability to utilize Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Docs, and social media
- A valid driver’s license and an insured vehicle required.
- Willingness to work long hours, evenings and weekends as needed.
- Knowledge of basic labor law such as NLRA, NYS Taylor Law, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, OSHA, etc., is a plus.
Location:
Syracuse or Ithaca, NY. Position requires travel throughout New York State.
Compensation:
Competitive salary, full benefits package including: 100% employer-paid family health, dental, and life insurance, a defined benefit pension, a supplemental 401K, and a car allowance. This is a salaried position.
To Apply:
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National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining
in Higher Education and the Professions
Hunter College, City University of New York
425 E 25th St.
Box 615
New York, NY 10010
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