Florida Constitution, Article I, Section 6
Collective Bargaining
UFF-FIU serves as the bargaining agent that negotiates the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA, or "contract") between faculty and the FIU Board of Trustees (the "administration"). The CBA governs, among other things, salary raises, tenure & promotion, annual assignments & evaluations, academic freedom, leaves, and other aspects of faculty work. Collective bargaining is led by a bargaining team, with guidance from a Bargaining Committee, the UFF-FIU Chapter Council, and ultimately the members that we serve. Assistance from professional legal staff in the state office and expert legal counsel is obtained when necessary.
Every year the UFF-FIU Bargaining Team and the administration are allotted five (5) articles to reopen to renegotiate. Once agreements have been met, UFF-FIU asks the faculty to vote to ratify amending the CBA. Every three (3) years the contract in its entirety is renegotiated. This is often referred to as "big book" bargaining as every single aspect of the contract must be agreed upon and ratified for the subsequent three years.
While our bargaining team is always fighting for the best CBA, our bargaining power is only as large as our membership. Join today to support this fight!
Contract Enforcement
Whether intentionally or not, sometimes your supervisors or other administrators at the university violate conditions of the CBA. The CBA includes a provision for faculty who believe that their rights have been violated to file grievances which, if not resolved, can proceed through the arbitration steps outlined in the CBA (Article 10).
UFF-FIU volunteers (and, if necessary, staff from the statewide office and outside legal counsel) support UFF-FIU members in these proceedings at no cost. The Grievance Committee keeps records of and supervises all grievances. The committee insures that union leadership is fully informed on the progress in maintaining and expanding the CBA to avoid violations from happening in the first place. We also work to ensure that faculty are aware of their rights in the first place. While the CBA may look like complex, legal language, it is a living document that governs your working conditions at FIU!
Political Action
UFF-FIU works with our state and national affiliates to educate the public and policy makers on the importance of higher education to Florida's future and working families. At times, these efforts are made in coordination with other groups to multiply our voice (e.g. other organized labor groups), but UFF-FIU is first and foremost the voice of FIU faculty.
The Legislative Affairs Committee cooperates with the State UFF and FEA in lobbying representatives in Tallahassee, conducting email/phone campaigns, attending political functions, and working with the UFF-PAC and NEA PAC. We inform our membership on important bills and rely on the collective action and mobilization of UFF allies to make change at the local, state, and federal levels to benefit higher education and our members.