Loyola University Updates

Dear Colleagues,

It was great to see everyone who made it to the Faculty Forward membership meeting! For a recap of Monday’s meeting, please see below.

Here is a link to our current contractual bargaining agreement.

The first item on our agenda was SEIU Local 73 dues restructuring. This restructuring is designed to create a more equitable dues structure. The influx of resources from this restructuring should strengthen our union, allow it to hire more people and give it the resources needed to create a strike fund. If the vote for the restructuring passes, the dues rate for all members as of July 1, 2024 will be 1.35% (with an $80 cap). Currently our rate at LUC FF is 2%, so our dues payments will actually decrease.

The vote will take place online, from October 10 – October 20, 2023.

Next, we discussed the issue of an implementation from our most recent contract, paid parental leave for Part-Time faculty. In our last collective bargaining agreement, we won three weeks of paid leave for part-time faculty who are new parents, either birth or adoptive. So far, no one has used this benefit, though two of our members are planning to do so this academic year.

Originally, the contract language specified that this parental leave had to be taken within 30 days of the birth or adoption. We have negotiated a memorandum of understanding with the administration to make this policy more flexible. Part-time faculty on semester-to-semester contracts may take their leave any time within the same semester as the birth or adoption. Part-time faculty one one- or two-year contracts may take the leave any time within the same academic year.

If you want to take such leave, you should reach out to your Chair. The administration is also working to make sure that Human Resources is aware of these benefits and can give part-time faculty proper guidance.

As always, we used this meeting as a chance to remind everyone to apply for the Professional Development Funds! (See the attached document.) You may apply for up to $600 for any expenses that can be broadly defined as teaching related. This includes everything from attending professional conferences or workshops to purchasing technology.

Last year was the first year that all of the funds were used. (YAY!)

If you are looking for ways to become involved with the union, please reach out to your steward, anyone in union leadership, or our representative, Liz Towell (etowell@seiu73.org).

It is our goal to have a steward in every unionized department at Loyola. Having a steward from your department means that you will have someone who understands the intricacies of your department on hand for contract questions and disputes, and for grievance and disciplinary issues. Please consider becoming a steward for your department. It’s a great opportunity to help others and build the strength of the union on campus.

SEIU offers a two-part training on how to be an effective steward. And we encourage you to reach out to other stewards and those active in the union’s leadership when dealing with a problem.

We look forward to collaborating with you to build a union that best serves all of us. Feel free to contact us.

In Solidarity,

Faculty Forward LUC Secretary: Lecturer Deb Goodman, Dance – gdeb8397@gmail.com

Faculty Forward LUC Chief Steward: Lecturer Sarita Heer, Art History – sarita.k.heer@gmail.com

Faculty Forward LUC Communications Coordinator: Lecturer Matt Williams, Sociology & Global Studies – m.williams.777@att.net

Addendum to Dues Information

Dear Colleagues, 

In the last communication from the union, we noted that there may be a change in our union dues. That change has not yet occurred. It needs to be voted on by the entirety of SEIU Local 73, which encompasses 29,000 amount of members. 

The vote will take place October 10-20, 2023. You will be able to vote online. Here is more information on this issue: Dues Restructuring Vote. 

If the vote passes, our dues will be 1.35% up to $80. This means our part-time faculty members will see a drop in union dues, but most full-time faculty members will have their dues  increased to $80 per paycheck. Our dues are capped at $80 per member, so no faculty will pay higher dues than this. 

This is a vote about creating a more fair and equitable dues restructuring fee in which those who get paid the least pay the least in union dues. Even with the proposed restructure to our dues, SEIU Local 73’s dues are still lower than most other unions’ dues percentages overall. 

We urge you to become familiar with the issue before you vote, and feel free to reach out to your department Steward and/or our Faculty Forward LUC union leadership with any questions, etc. 

Sarita Heer, Chief Steward, sheer@luc.edu