UFF-FIU Compensation Summary & Counteroffer
Last week, the bargaining teams met to discuss compensation. After a brief clarifying discussion about their offer, the UFF-FIU bargaining team decided to end the bargaining session without making a new counteroffer. The team has requested the use of our the contractually guaranteed summer consultation meeting with President Jessell to discuss the work required to achieve preeminent status, the public pronouncements concerning how the new recurring funds would be used, and the latest compensation offer from the administration. We hope this meeting will be able to inform more productive bargaining on the topic of compensation moving forward.
As was the case last time, we note the following shared understandings that informed our team’s previous request:
- FIU received $25 million in new recurring funding due to our designation as a preeminent university and the funds allocated and distributed to institutions with such a designation.
- FIU received $10 million in one-time funding dedicated to faculty recruitment and retention.
- A 1% increase to in-unit faculty costs approximately $2.2 million.
- There are approximately 1364 members of the bargaining unit (noting some fluctuations in salaries between retirements and new hires).
- The administration is willing to guarantee only salary increases in 2024-2025, with years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 subject to new available funds. If such funds are not available, parties will return to the bargaining table.
Overview:
- Although the bargaining team was pleased to see the topline number of the administration’s offer increase from 2.5% to 3.5%, we were disheartened to see decreases in other areas of compensation for the unit (including minimum retention raises, minimum salaries, and equity dollars).
- Overall, the total compensation proposal for year 1 represents roughly $7.5m, representing roughly 30% of the new recurring dollars associated with achieving pre-eminence.*
- The UFF-FIU bargaining team has requested a consultation meeting between our Chapter President and Lead Negotiator to discuss how new recurring dollars are being prioritized
Salary Proposal Summaries
| UFF-FIU’s Counteroffer 06/25/2024 | |||||
| Year | Retention | Total Retention | Merit | Total Merit | Total |
| 2024-2025 | 4.5% or $4,500 | $9.9 million | 0% | $0 | $9.9 million |
| 2025-2026 | 2.5% or $2,500 | $5.5 million | 1% | $2.2 million | $7.7 million |
| 2026-2027 | 2% or $2,000 | $4.4 million | 1.5% | $3.3 million | $7.7 million |
| FIU’s Counteroffer 07/25/2024 | |||||
| Year | Retention | Total Retention | Merit | Total Merit | Total |
| 2024-2025 | 3.5% or $2,902 | $7 million* | 0% | $0 | $7 million |
| 2025-2026 | 2.5% or $2,500 | $5.5 million | .5% | $1.1 million | $6.7 million |
| 2026-2027 | 2% or $2,000 | $4.4 million | 1% | $2.2 million | $6.6 million |
Non-Recurring Retention Payments – $4,000
We are pleased to see the University receive substantial one-time dollars for the purposes of faculty retention and recruitment. In their latest offer, they included a one-time bonus of $4,000 per eligible faculty member (up from $2500 previously). This represents roughly $5.4m or 54% (up from the $3.4m or 34%) of the $10m one-time dollars earmarked for retention and recruitment.
Minimum Salaries
The administration’s counteroffer decreased the minimum amount for faculty on visiting lines in order to include visiting faculty, now offering 9-month equivalent minimum salaries of $70k for faculty with a doctoral degree or equivalent, and $65k for faculty with a masters degree or equivalent (compared with their previous proposal of $72k and $67k, respectively, excluding visiting faculty members).
Equity
The administration’s counteroffer decreased the total amount allocated to equity adjustments (from .5% previously to .25%, or ~$700k/year previously to ~$350k/year). We agree that starting equity adjustments in the 2025-2026 year would be beneficial to allow time to develop comprehensive guidelines and priorities; however, we are disappointed to see the total commitment come down.
Research Enhancement
The administration’s new offer included .25% (~$350k/year) for research enhancement awards. We are pleased to see the administration commit to putting money behind our incredible faculty and create opportunities for more faculty to develop their research programs.
Authored by:
Daniel Saunders (UFF-FIU Lead Negotiator), and
Eric Scarffe (UFF-FIU President)
*Note the previous assumption of $2.2 million per percentage raise included having minimum raises of a $1,000 per percentage. Thus, these numbers are based of the quoted amounts the administration’s team provided us at the table.