The session started off with a big whiff by the university, claiming telecommuting is “working fine” under the current contract Article 16. UCPEA swiftly corrected them that it is not, in fact, working fine as members across the university face wildly different and capricious telecommuting practices. The University’s following stance is that they do not want to offer 100% remote as an option. The question UCPEA followed up with is what to do about those employees who are already currently working a 100% remote schedule, to which the university said they will review and get back to UCPEA.
The university then counter-proposed on Article 34, that unused professional development funds will rollover into the next fiscal year under the contract period but not between contracts. They also then proposed that tuition reimbursement would be limited to “degree-granting programs only”. Notably, this would not cover any certificate programs that many members enroll in.
In caucus, the UCPEA team was adamant about not willing to accept “nothing” proposals! There was a good observer turnout, so the negotiating team asked the observers for feedback and questions. There was a robust discussion about the value of certificate programs to members, and that investing in our members IS in the best interest of the university.
In the following discussion with the university, UCPEA made proposals with articles 34, 35, and 36. UCPEA counter-proposed an increase in professional development funds from $400K to $750K, an increase of tuition reimbursement pool to $100K, and disagreed with the proposed change to “degree-granting” requirements, and looked to compromise on employees utilizing the tuition waiver regarding the timing of enrolling in courses (currently need to enroll on the first day of classes, but UCPEA is arguing to get an earlier and much more reasonable timeline).
UConn asked if there were examples of members getting denied opportunities for remote work, to which the response was a resounding YES from UCPEA.
There is much more work to be done!
- Nick Boston