Board of Regents restarts union negotiations with University of Northern Iowa faculty

In restarting contract negotiations with the University of Northern Iowa faculty union Monday, the Board of Regents - under newly approved, limited, collective bargaining guidelines - cut every page but one from its long-standing, 54-page contract.

The single remaining page addressing pay is, essentially, the only one required under the new law that removed as mandatory bargaining topics like health insurance, vacation, overtime, holidays and grievance procedures.

The board proposed a 1.1 percent pay raise in each of the next two years - less than the 1.5 to 2 percent proposed by UNI's union, United Faculty, but the most an arbitrator can offer. The two sides bargained for about two hours after swapping initial proposals but didn't reach a deal.

'The discussion is continuing,” United Faculty President Joe Gorton said.

When United Faculty initially received the board's pared down proposal Monday morning, the room grew notably silent - perhaps representing the limited issues on which union members now have a voice. United Faculty attorney Nate Willems spoke to the history of the moment.

'We have a 54-page collective bargaining agreement that, according to the recognition clause, goes back to 1976,” Willems said. 'These 54 pages represent agreements between Board of Regents and United Faculty for terms and conditions of employment at the university, and I understand the regents' proposal is to delete 53 of the 54 pages.”

That, he said, 'seems to me to be a gross abuse of power.”

United Faculty before the law change conducted a survey of its 550 members, and a majority said they'd consider leaving UNI - either by seeking a job elsewhere or by retiring - if they lose the right to bargain collectively with the Board of Regents.

Over the weekend, UNI President Mark Nook and Provost Jim Wohlpart put out a joint statement with United Faculty leadership first affirming the current two-year contract remains binding through June 30.

Having met after Gov. Terry Branstad signed the new law Friday, UNI administration and United Faculty said in the statement the parties have 'jointly committed to create a collaborative process for ensuring that we maintain competitive salaries and benefits and other terms of employment currently covered.”

Wohlpart told reporters that all matters outside salary that previously were negotiated through collective bargaining now will be handled in a faculty handbook - like those at University of Iowa and Iowa State University, where faculty members are not unionized.

'We recognize the challenges that we currently face and are committed to making certain that the University of Northern Iowa continues to be a great place to work and to learn,” according to the joint statement.

The Board of Regents at the time of the law change also was negotiating contracts with the UI graduate student union - Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, or COGS - and the Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents thousands of UI Health Care staff.

Both those groups voted to ratify the board's last offer before the new law was enacted. The Board of Regents did not act on that ratification and instead is starting over negotiations with those groups as well.

The board will swap initial proposals with COGS on Tuesday. It has not yet announced a date to do so with SEIU.

'We received guidance today from the Public Employment Relations Board that because of the changes to Chapter 20, we need to start over with negotiations,” Board of Regents spokesman Josh Lehman said Friday.

United Faculty, COGS, and AFSCME Iowa Council 61 - which represents 40,000 public employees across the state, including some ISU staffers - have filed 'prohibited practice” complaints alleging bad-faith bargaining with the Public Employment Relations Board.

Those cases, which are winding through the system, accuse the board of ignoring existing law and waiting to continue discussions until after the new law was passed.

Additionally, AFSCME on Monday filed a lawsuit against the state claiming the amended law is 'unconstitutional, null, and void.”

United Faculty President Gorton said his union hasn't filed anything in the judiciary yet.

'United Faculty is exploring various options in terms of litigation,” he said.

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com