Contract Negotiations Begin

The Akron-AAUP’s negotiating team met with representatives of the University of Akron May 30 for initial discussions pertaining to Article 16 of the current contract and to discuss opening negotiations for a new bargaining agreement.  The current contract will expire at 12:01 a.m. on December 15, 2013.  Article 16 section 5 of the current contract provides for re-opened negotiations on the sole subject of faculty compensation for academic year 2013-14.
The meeting was informal and talks were collegial, frank and about as productive as one could hope for in an initial meeting.
Both sides indicated generally the issues that would be of concern as negotiations progress. The Akron-AAUP negotiating team–which has been meeting together and with members of the executive committee for the last year-and-a-half in preparation for negotiations–presented UA representatives with a formal proposal for faculty salary for academic year 2013-14. Akron-AAUP continues to look forward to a formal counter offer from the university. Public statements from university officials on budgetary concerns would seem to suggest a likely opening position on the topic.
The contract and state law require both sides to negotiate the issue in good faith.
UA and Akron-AAUP agreed to the formation of working groups to address a number of contractual issues and modifications.  The working group model was used to good effect in the last round of negotiations to expedite work away from the formal constraints of talks held at the negotiating table.
Akron-AAUP looks forward to a timely continuation of productive talks with UA representatives.
Present at the meeting:
For The University of Akron:  Rex Ramsier, Associate Provost; Mr Sid Foster, Vice-President and General Counsel. The University’s chief negotiator is Mr. Steven Nobil, Esq.
For Akron-AAUP: Mike Cheung, chief negotiator and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Elizabeth Kennedy, Professor, Associate Studies; Kevin Kreider, Professor of Mathematics; and John Reeves, Senior Instructor, Anthropology.
Akron-AAUP’s legal counsel is Mr. Eben “Sandy” McNair, Esq.
Updates on progress in negotiations will be posted here and on Akron-AAUP’s Facebook page.