University of Chicago Faculty Forward Updates

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2024

Dear colleagues,

We did it!! After 29 bargaining sessions held over a period of 235 days, and just before midnight last night, the bargaining team agreed to a tentative deal with management that we believe substantively addresses the needs of our entire union and contains some big wins. We are thrilled to be able to present this package to membership and strongly recommend that you vote “yes” to ratify the contract. We will hold a series of all-members’ meetings in person and on Zoom over the next couple weeks to answer any questions and address any concerns you may have. For now, we are excited to share with you the major features of the proposed collective bargaining agreement in outline. Bear in mind that, because of how late this deal came together Friday night, we have not seen management’s official numbers on paper, and we will need to verify these as we receive them early next week. However, the following reflects the understanding last night that we approved, and the specific details of our tentative agreements with management on all articles will be available next week.

ACROSS-THE-BOARD RAISES

• Across-the-board raises over 5 years of 8.5/4.5/3.5/3/3.5 percent. Members overwhelmingly ranked fair pay as their top priority in negotiations, and this contract is a giant step toward that. These raises actually compound to 25.1 percent over five years, and 17.35 percent over the first three years, which is higher than the 10/3/3 bottom line that members demanded (16.7 percent total). Our across-the-board win covers ground lost due to high inflation over the last few years with a raise that more than makes up for it. This is a huge victory, especially given the uphill battle we had fighting the austerity narrative that management has been pushing for two years.
• Raises will be retroactive to July 1, 2024 or September 1, 2024, depending on individual appointment cycle start dates.

BENEFITS

• A brand-new childcare allowance of $1,000 per quarter available to *all* “Track B” members (instructional professors and professors of practice in the arts of all ranks), Lecturer 2s, and Teaching Fellows with dependent children under the age of 11.
• The Dependent Children Tuition Benefit for IPs and PPAs of all ranks. This covers tuition at any college or university up to 75 percent of the University of Chicago tuition. This is a massive victory that we’ve fought for over THREE different CBAs now. It goes a huge way toward benefit-parity with tenure-line faculty and will be life-changing for many of our members.
• The Diverse Learners’ Portability Benefit, which covers an amount equal to Lab School tuition remission for IPs, PPAs, and Lecturer 2s – another big win and a big step toward benefit-parity with TT workers.
• L2s and TFs are eligible for Lab School tuition remission. 
• SOSC Writing Advisors with triple and double appointments are benefits-eligible under the new CBA.

INCREASED MINIMUM SALARIES BEYOND ATB

• Teaching Fellows will see their salaries increase to $58,000 in the first year of the contract (from $49,536 currently)—a 17.1 percent raise. ATB raises for subsequent years will push that number to $60,610 the following year, and $62,731.35 in the third year, reaching $66,874 at the end of the contract. 
• Writing Specialist salaries will grow to $67,000 in the first year. The newest Writing Specialists make $51,667, and the vast majority of members are in the low $50,000s. Writing Advisors in the SOSC core who work triple appointments will have their salaries increased to $60,000 in the first year from $45,000 currently—a 33 percent raise.
• Salaries for Writing and Research Advisors in the English Department and the Creative Writing Program will move up to $60,000 in the first year. These positions are currently in the mid $40,000s and high $30,000s respectively.
• Members promoted from L3 to L4 (Assistant to Associate) will see an eight-percent raise. The promotion from L4 to L5 (Associate to Full Instructional Professor) comes with an additional 8.23 percent raise.
• Lecturer 2 pay will be set at approximately $37,000 for a four-course load and approximately $45,000 for a five-course load. L2s with more than seven years of service will get an additional eight-percent longevity raise.
• For L1s, there is a new per-course minimum of $8,500, up from $7,538 currently.

JOB PROTECTIONS FOR WRITING PROGRAM INSTRUCTORS

Management’s plans to restructure the Writing Program have been a major concern for our writing instructor members and Faculty Forward as a whole. We won the following major concessions toward job security for these members:

• A guarantee of a final-round interview for newly created instructional professor positions for current Writing Program employees who meet the minimum qualifications.
• A guarantee that current writing instructors not hired into new instructional professor positions will be rehired into any writing staff positions for which they are qualified if such jobs are available, with such hiring taking place according to seniority.
• Two seats on an advisory board that will guide transition to the new Writing Program model. This is a giant win for non-TT faculty governance and an important precedent for our membership’s right to a seat at the table in significant administrative decisions.
• Severance of six-months salary and benefits for any current workers laid off in future restructuring.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS

• Every full-time member is guaranteed a minimum of $2,500 in professional development funding annually; Lecturer 2s and writing instructors will receive $1,700 annually. This money will be made available to individual members without the requirement of an application process (though expenses are still subject to university approval).
• Professors of Practice in the Arts will now be granted leave that mirrors Research Leave for tenure-line faculty.
• IPs are eligible to apply for one academic quarter of professional development leave after every sixth year of service with a course reduction of two courses. This leave can be extended to two or three quarters if the IP secures outside sources of funding to cover a portion of their salary, or, in the absence of outside funding, with a reduced salary.
• After three years of service, Track B lecturers can apply for a one-course reduction to either create instructional material for a new course or design new courses that could not be created otherwise.

IMMIGRATION STATUS JUSTICE

• H1B Visa sponsorship – with fees paid by the University – will be available to all IPs and PPAs.
• For Teaching Fellows and Johnson Lecturers, the University will consider requests for H1B sponsorship on a case-by-case basis.
• A commitment from the Office of International Affairs to respond to all inquiries “as expeditiously as possible” (within 5 days) and to address urgent requests for travel signatures as quickly as possible.

FAIR WORKLOAD AND FAIR PAY IN MA PROGRAMS

• Previously uncompensated summer teaching labor in MAPH, MAPSS, and CIR will be paid with an additional 1/13 of base assistant instructional professor salary for workers in these programs.
• A commitment not to change target ranges for advising loads in Humanities and Social Sciences MA programs without six months’ notice.
• A commitment to keep precept sizes (inclusive of second-year Two-Year Language Option students in MAPH) from exceeding 20 students.
• A mechanism for addressing overloads with either increased pay, a reduction of non-teaching duties, student reassignment, or a reduction of teaching duties with a commitment to minimize any changes in duties laid out in appointment letters.
• A much improved work structure for Johnson Lecturers (previously Johnson Instructors) in MAPSS, including a four-year appointment (up from three years), a one course reduction in workload, priority consideration for any newly created MAPSS IP jobs for which they are qualified, and pay increased to the AIP base.

NON-ECONOMIC MATTERS

• Expanded protections from discrimination and harassment, including definitions of online harassment, a pledge of transparency around the investigation of online harassment and remedies proposed, and a commitment to form a joint committee with Faculty Forward to develop policy recommendations to combat online harassment.
• Much stronger language that guarantees our freedoms of speech and academic freedom.
• A new article on accessibility, including protections against discrimination for workers with accessibility needs and a commitment to form a joint committee with Faculty Forward to discuss accessibility and the implementation of new accessibility technology on an ongoing basis.
• The new CBA will allow “spousal hires” in IP jobs to opt into the Union and the terms of the CBA if they wish.
• AIPs can petition for early progression review prior to their sixth year (this would mean the up-or-out review comes earlier).
• Members can propose team-taught courses which, if approved, will count as a course for each instructor.
• Improved access to resources.
• Accounting for “high-contact courses” that require additional instructional hours in the assignment of duties and grievance mechanisms to remedy workloads that aren’t properly calculated.
• Clearer workload language and course caps lowered from 9 to 8 for certain low-enrollment lecturers. 

The bargaining team was clear in our position on contract duration: we would consider the five-year contract proposed by management, rather than the typical three-year contract, if the money—and the whole package—worked for our members. Since we strongly believe that both criteria have been met, we are happy to present to you a five-year contract for ratification. While we were not able to win everything we wanted, we are proud of the victories we were able to achieve and the solidarity that our bargaining team showed with all members.

Colleagues, this a great contract that improves our working conditions in almost every area and is a huge step toward recognizing the labor of non-tenure track faculty and paying us fairly. We could not have done this without the support of our entire membership. Thanks to everyone who signed the strike authorization petition and who signed the fair-pay petition. That was a significant show of worker strength that brought management to terms and secured a substantial victory for academic labor at the University of Chicago.

The Executive Committee and the Bargaining Team will be putting this contract to a vote very soon. Please make every effort to attend an all-members meeting, and please contact the executive committee at uchi.facultyforward@gmail.com or your unit steward if you have any questions in the meantime.

In solidarity,

The Faculty Forward Executive Committee