Elections

 

Each spring, the USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida elects its President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and its UFF Senators and FEA Delegates.  These positions are described in the article on The Offices on page 2.  Only union members may make nominations, stand for election, run, and vote.  We encourage all union members to consider standing for election, and to vote.

     If you would like to stand for election, or if you think someone else would, please send a letter of nomination to:

     CHAIR, Election Committee

     United Faculty of Florida

     P.O. Box 30238, USF-Tampa

     uff_biweekly-owner@ourusf.org

The letter should contain: (1) your name, (2) the name of the nominee, and (3) the office the nomination is for.  All nominations – including permission by the nominee to be a candidate – must be received by February 4.

     All nominees are strongly encouraged to submit a short (250 words or less) self-description, which must be received by February 4 to be included in the ballot materials.

     Election will be by secret mail ballot; members will be responsible for getting their ballots returned by the deadline.  The ballots will be sent out by February 18, and be due by Friday, March 4; they will be counted shortly afterwards at a session to which all union members are invited to attend.

     On April 1, newly elected officers and representatives formally assume their duties.

 

The Offices

 

The USF Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida consists of the members of the union in the USF Bargaining Unit.  The Chapter is a participatory democracy: policy is set at the Chapter meetings on Friday paydays, and all union members are invited to attend.

     The Chapter has three kinds of positions:  elected executive positions, elected legislative positions, and appointed positions.

     There are four elected executives.   The President is the chief executive and chief spokesperson of the chapter.  The Vice President assists the president, and fills the president’s office if necessary.  The Secretary composes minutes and maintains other records the Chapter requires.  The Treasurer supervises the finances of the Chapter.

     There are two kinds of elected representatives.

     A Senator represents USF at the UFF Senate meetings, one meeting in late spring and the other in early fall.  Each is on a weekend, in Tampa or Orlando.  The UFF Senate is the legislature of the UFF, and sets policy for the UFF.  The number of senators from USF depends on union membership at USF (!).

      A Delegate represents UFF at the annual Florida Education Association Assembly.  The FEA is the preeminent union representing teachers in Florida.  The Assembly is the legislative body of the FEA, and will meet in late October in Orlando.  It typically runs from a Thursday afternoon to a Saturday morning.  Again, the size of the UFF delegation depends on the size of UFF’s membership.

     These are the offices open for election.  There are also several officers appointed by the President.  The Bargaining Chair is the Chapter’s Chief Negotiator, and bargains contracts with the assistance of a Bargaining Committee.  The Grievance Chair handles “contract enforcement” by overseeing grievances, with the assistance of a Grievance Committee.   The Membership Chair goes out and persuades faculty members to join the union, while the Publicity Chair puts out the newsletters and handles the websites.

     The Chapter has a Constitution describing these offices, and it is on-line at http://w3.usf.edu/~uff/Laws.html.

 

Domestic Partners

 

Last December, the United Faculty of Florida proposed new domestic partner health insurance benefits while bargaining the annual revision of the contract.  The union’s bargaining team issued A Call to Action early this month, which generated enough letters to the Provost’s office to get the Provost to broadcast a response.

     Here is what is happening.

     The Collective Bargaining Agreement (i.e., the contract) is bargained every three years.  The current contract runs from 2004 to 2007.  But salary is re-bargained each year, and some other items are re-bargained with salary.  For 2005 – 2006, re-bargaining was supposed to start in fall, 2004, but the Administration refused to start before August, 2005, and even then had organiza-tional problems, so we are still bargaining.

     One of the items chosen to be re-bargained this year was Article 24, on benefits.  Among other things, the union proposed domestic partner health benefits, i.e., that health insurance should be available to a “partner” who lives with, shares expenses with, etc., an employee in the bargaining unit.  The proposal was modeled after a policy recently instituted at the University of Florida.

     Such programs have become popular in the high-technology world since the 1990s, and our lack of such a program hurts USF recruitment, among other things.  The union, which had pushed long and hard for non-discrimination language (now in the contract, thanks to a little help from our friends!), is hearing from its members on the issue, and so is pressing the point.

     Returning to the current round of bargaining, it is now January, and we are bargaining over raises to appear...last August.  In fact, we are supposed to be bargaining for the 2006 – 2007 year right now.  So it is likely that the next round of bargain-ing will start soon after the current round ends.

     The union continues to press the administration to agree to provide domestic partner health insurance benefits, but it is not clear whether we will get the language in this round of bargaining. If not, the issue will not go away, especially if faculty continue to press for a program more and more other institutions adopt.

     This is one of many issues before us, and we welcome everyone who seeks to participate.  Come and join the movement.