Bargaining Update #1

Time flies! Two years ago this week, we signed the current contract (the ‘Collective Bargaining Agreement’) between Wayne State University and AAUP-AFT Local 6075, now known as the Wayne Academic Union (WAU). Our contract will expire on June 30, 2024. We anticipate starting negotiations for a new contract in March of 2024.

As we prepare to negotiate, the WAU Executive Board has selected the bargaining team. The team was chosen to ensure that both faculty and academic staff were represented and that the team would have deep experience with contract negotiations. In terms of shared governance, the team’s membership includes individuals who have served (or are serving) on the WAU Executive Board and Contract Enforcement Team, the Academic Senate, various committees at the college level, the Executive Committee from the School of Medicine, committees focused on academic staff and teaching faculty issues, as well as city and state-level labor organizations, to name just a few. Additionally, members of the team have served on many university 2N committees addressing topics such as promotion and tenure factors, online teaching, SET scores, flexible work arrangements and more.

The last two years have seen major shifts in our national political, cultural and educational landscape, which have ultimately touched all of us in one form or another. On top of that a changed post-pandemic work-environment has created new challenges and opportunities, while the dramatic increase in inflation has resulted in financial stressors for many of us. In these uncertain times, there is even more urgency for all of us to work together and ensure we improve and strengthen the existing contract in the next round of bargaining.

To facilitate this, the team wants to hear from you, our members, on issues that are of concern to you and impact your employment at Wayne State. We are preparing a detailed survey that will be coming soon, organizing open Zoom drop-in sessions where members can meet with the bargaining team, and creating opportunities for members to share their input at the departmental level. We also look forward to hearing from you at our upcoming General Membership meetings. We want these interactions to help us develop and pursue a common strategy, as well as to keep everyone informed of our progress. Once negotiations begin, we plan to give regular updates and opportunities for discussion as we navigate the various stages. You are always encouraged, of course, to directly contact the team members, your Council representatives, or the WAU office with any concerns.

Our union is all of us, together, fighting for a fair and equitable future, and with strong support, we will achieve an even better contract in 2024.

In Solidarity,

The Team

Pramod Khosla
Chief Negotiator
Professor, Nutrition and Food Science, CLAS.
Faculty Grievance Coordinator, WAU

Staff Member: Mark Dilley
Executive Director, WAU

Kristen Chinery
Archivist IV, Reuther Library, Archives of Labor & Urban Affairs.
Academic Staff Grievance Coordinator, Executive Board, WAU

Deborah Ellis
Professor, Family Medicine, School of Medicine.
Vice-President, WAU

Christine Knapp
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Classical & Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, CLAS.
Contract Implementation Officer, WAU

Hayg Oshagan
Associate Professor, Communication, CFPCA.
AFL-CIO Rep, WAU

Ali Salamey
Academic Services Officer IV, Honors College.

Angie Tiura
Associate Professor of Research, Family Medicine, School of Medicine.