Working Conditions Fact Checks
Beyond compensation, UAOU and its organizers claim that a union will protect faculty working conditions. At best, they present a naive hope and at worst they are leading us into ruin.
UAOU Claim: key organizer and colleague Dr. Julie White recently noted: "I think faculty senates at unionized campuses have the extra legitimacy of having a working environment where their faculty has contract protections." (Source: Athens News)
Fact Check: False
The Facts: Our peer Ohio schools with unions have seen an acceleration in program destruction and faculty job cuts in the last year including:
Cleveland State University: 20 programs cut with 22 additional programs suspended (Source: The Cleveland Stater)
University of Toledo: 48 academic programs cut alongside $17 million in academic budget reductions (Source: University of Toledo & Toledo Blade)
Wright State University: 34 academic programs were suspended and cut, announced Feb. 2024 (Source: Wright State University)
Youngstown State University: Six programs cut alongside 13 faculty (Source: Ideastream)
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What did the union actually do to protect these programs and faculty? Read the stories and hear the common refrain of "shock," "alarm," "disappointment," but no action. For .75% to 1% of their salary, these faculty received seemingly no help.
UAOU Claim: UAOU organizers claim a union will support "working conditions and compensation structure that will enable the recruitment and retention of a dedicated and diverse faculty;"
Fact Check: Misleading; teaching loads, overload availability, and other conditions are negotiated by the union but there is evidence that these negotiations tend to favor those faculty with seniority.
The Facts: Our peer Ohio schools offer examples in which teaching schedules, teaching loads, and overloads are all determined by faculty seniority. To think that advocating that these critical working condition be determined by seniority as a way to recruit and retain dedicated and diverse faculty, is a farce.