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Printer-Friendly ModeContract barely approved
October 31, 2005 —
If it were not for David J. Abbs, SVSU faculty may not have had a new contract.
In an unusually tense meeting, the SVSU Board of Control approved the three-year collective bargaining agreements with the SVSU Faculty Association and University Police Officers Union during a special meeting Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The agreement with faculty caused the tense meeting, as members Ruth A. Braun and David R. Gamez voted against the proposal. The two votes against the contract would not have been a problem had all of the Board members been present for the meeting, but they were not.
In the nine-member board, five are needed present to keep quorum and for a majority, and that was the number initially present at the meeting. Member D. Brian Law voted through telephone, and was only able to do so because the proper amount of members were present.
But with two dissenting votes, the initial vote was 4-2, not the majority needed to pass the contract. President Eric R. Gilbertson suggested a recess until Abbs, who was late for the meeting, would be able to arrive. Braun and Gamez threatened to leave the meeting and subsequently not allow the Board to keep quorum and voted against the recess, but that passed with the same 4-2 vote.
Once Abbs arrived and after a lengthy informal discussion closed to the public, the Board came back to the table. Braun and Gamez stayed, and Abbs' vote in favor of the contract allowed for the majority needed to approve it.
"On balance, this is a good contract for the University," Gilbertson said at the meeting. "There are some provisions we don't like, and some that the faculty don't like."
Gilbertson emphasized that in bargaining sessions such as the ones that led to the agreement, there are often many compromises made. One of the issues that was "exhausted at bargaining," Gilbertson said, was that of health care benefits for faculty, the same issue that caused Braun to vote against the contract.
Braun's problem was with the health care provision that makes the Michigan Educational Special Services Association (MESSA) the sole provider for SVSU faculty. Braun explained that MESSA dictates that only it can provide health care to the University, and did not allow the University to bid out the services.
"I find that repugnant, and agreement to this condition is totally unacceptable," she said.
Under the previous agreement, which allowed faculty to find another provider if they so chose, 60 faculty members chose Health Plus instead of MESSA. With the new agreement, faculty members will be spending between $2,900 and $4,100, depending on which options they pick.
"I sincerely regret that those members will no longer have the opportunity to make the health care choices that best meet their own special needs," Braun added.
The contract will give faculty raises of 3.5 percent in its first and second years, and 3.25 percent in the final year.
The contract with the UPD Union was unanimously approved. The contract was a first for the union, which is affiliated with the Police Officers Labor Council and represents four SVSU police officers.
Under terms of the agreement, the officers will receive a raise of three percent for this year, and raises of 1.25 percent in the second and third years.
"It was a long negotiation that we believe we resolved successfully," said Jill Gushow, director of Staff Relations.
Also included in the contract were terms for potential officer layoffs. If layoffs were to occur, seniority would not be the highest factor in the process.
Job performance would distinguish one officer from another, Gushow said, and if officers were evaluated equally, then seniority would play into the decision.