The President of Faculty Association David Jackson journeyed to Columbus yesterday to file a petition for the unionization of University faculty.
Faculty Association officers plan to deliver a letter to President Carol Cartwright's office today at 9:30 a.m. stating their intent to form a union. A press conference will be held at 10 a.m. in Union room 309 to discuss their progress and what comes next.
Karen Craigo, Faculty Association communications coordinator, said the first stage in the unionization process has been completed. Volunteers for BGSU-FA have been conducting a card campaign since last spring, seeking signatures from full-time faculty members, specifically instructors who support unionization.
Almost 58 percent of eligible faculty have signed petition cards -- almost double the 30 percent required for filing petition with the state, Craigo said.
John Forsyth, University librarian, said he signed a petition card in favor of the union.
"I've never really been for a union, but I just feel that things have not gotten better as far as the relationship between faculty and administration," he said. "I think it can improve."
"We're excited that an overwhelming majority of faculty members have signed signature cards in favor of a union," Jackson said.
After achieving the required number of signature cards, Faculty Association members must file a petition with the State Employment Relations Board to hold an election. Members of BGSU-FA, including Jackson and Secretary Candace Archer, went to Columbus yesterday to deliver a petition letter and 469 signed cards to the State Employment Relations Board.
An election will give all faculty a chance to vote on whether they want collective bargaining, Craigo said, in which members create a contract stating their requests, and then negotiate with University administration.
"It can cover all aspects of working life on campus," Craigo said. "From salaries and benefits to shared governance issues, like how will we be represented in terms of not having a voice in various areas."
Jackson said the general situation they seek to change is decision-making of University administration without real input from the faculty.
"For us, it's about [having] a permanent seat at the table to have a real say in how the University is run," he said.
Unionization is not an attempt to replace Faculty Senate, Jackson said.
"[BGSU-FA] is not in any way opposed to Faculty Senate ... we want to strengthen the Faculty Senate with having shared governance supported by a legally-negotiated contract," he said.
Craigo said they are confident an election will be granted and hope to hold a vote by the end of this semester or early next fall.
"We know that everything is in decent shape," Craigo said. "We'd love to have an election by the end of this year; the people are really eager to have this in place."
Forsyth said the goal of unionization is to make the University better.
"I think that faculty is often overlooked," Forsyth said. "The faculty is somewhat marginalized, and I think the idea is not to divide the University but to give the University the benefits of [the] faculty's point of view and knowledge and their commitment to the institution."
If an election is successful, the Faculty Association will move forward in committees to begin the workings of a contract for the union. Craigo said the process could take until the end of the year. BGSU-FA expects attempts at obstruction of the unionization by University administration.
"There will be troubled times ahead. We're going to stay positive," Craigo said.
"We're the supporters, we're the BGSU people, we're the Falcons," Craigo said. "We know how to make BGSU a great institution and I think we can achieve something in our collective bargaining that's good for everybody."
Faculty Association officers plan to deliver a letter to President Carol Cartwright's office today at 9:30 a.m. stating their intent to form a union. A press conference will be held at 10 a.m. in Union room 309 to discuss their progress and what comes next.
Karen Craigo, Faculty Association communications coordinator, said the first stage in the unionization process has been completed. Volunteers for BGSU-FA have been conducting a card campaign since last spring, seeking signatures from full-time faculty members, specifically instructors who support unionization.
Almost 58 percent of eligible faculty have signed petition cards -- almost double the 30 percent required for filing petition with the state, Craigo said.
John Forsyth, University librarian, said he signed a petition card in favor of the union.
"I've never really been for a union, but I just feel that things have not gotten better as far as the relationship between faculty and administration," he said. "I think it can improve."
"We're excited that an overwhelming majority of faculty members have signed signature cards in favor of a union," Jackson said.
After achieving the required number of signature cards, Faculty Association members must file a petition with the State Employment Relations Board to hold an election. Members of BGSU-FA, including Jackson and Secretary Candace Archer, went to Columbus yesterday to deliver a petition letter and 469 signed cards to the State Employment Relations Board.
An election will give all faculty a chance to vote on whether they want collective bargaining, Craigo said, in which members create a contract stating their requests, and then negotiate with University administration.
"It can cover all aspects of working life on campus," Craigo said. "From salaries and benefits to shared governance issues, like how will we be represented in terms of not having a voice in various areas."
Jackson said the general situation they seek to change is decision-making of University administration without real input from the faculty.
"For us, it's about [having] a permanent seat at the table to have a real say in how the University is run," he said.
Unionization is not an attempt to replace Faculty Senate, Jackson said.
"[BGSU-FA] is not in any way opposed to Faculty Senate ... we want to strengthen the Faculty Senate with having shared governance supported by a legally-negotiated contract," he said.
Craigo said they are confident an election will be granted and hope to hold a vote by the end of this semester or early next fall.
"We know that everything is in decent shape," Craigo said. "We'd love to have an election by the end of this year; the people are really eager to have this in place."
Forsyth said the goal of unionization is to make the University better.
"I think that faculty is often overlooked," Forsyth said. "The faculty is somewhat marginalized, and I think the idea is not to divide the University but to give the University the benefits of [the] faculty's point of view and knowledge and their commitment to the institution."
If an election is successful, the Faculty Association will move forward in committees to begin the workings of a contract for the union. Craigo said the process could take until the end of the year. BGSU-FA expects attempts at obstruction of the unionization by University administration.
"There will be troubled times ahead. We're going to stay positive," Craigo said.
"We're the supporters, we're the BGSU people, we're the Falcons," Craigo said. "We know how to make BGSU a great institution and I think we can achieve something in our collective bargaining that's good for everybody."
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