Information Update - December 16, 2004

Below is a list of questions asked by UMC faculty in December 2004, regarding the upcoming faculty unionization election. Answers were provided by University of Minnesota Office of Human Resources.
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Questions and Answers

Question: How would faculty benefit if union representation is elected?
Answer: Neither the University nor UEA representatives can answer this question because, under union representation, terms and conditions of employment would need to be negotiated, and the answers simply do not yet exist. Any promises or threats about the future made by UEA representatives are a violation of fair labor practices.
Question: What does faculty give up by unionizing?
Answer: Terms and conditions of employment would need to be negotiated with the union. No one knows how unionization would impact such items. However, faculty would give up the ability to work directly with the University on terms and conditions of employment. This would include the ability to serve on governance committees.
Question: Can faculty represented by a union serve on governance committees?
Answer: If a bargaining representative is elected, the University cannot legally negotiate directly with an individual faculty member regarding terms and conditions of employment because UEA will be the sole bargaining agent for all UMC faculty. Such discussion must filter through union leadership. Consequently, faculty in a bargaining unit represented by a union are not eligible to serve on the University Faculty Senate nor any of its committees.
Question: How will faculty governance on the UMC campus be impacted by a union?
Answer: Local faculty governance on the Crookston campus will be limited. As the sole bargaining agent for all UMC faculty, only UEA will be able to bring issues to the bargaining table. The University will be prohibited from dealing directly with individual faculty members regarding terms and conditions of employment.
Question: Who is eligible to vote in the election?
Answer: The Bureau of Mediation Services determined the eligible voter list effective on December 3, 2004. University of Minnesota, Crookston instructional faculty who hold the rank of Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Instructor, Research Fellow and Research Associate will be eligible to vote. It was determined that faculty who hold the title of Department Head as of that date are not eligible to vote.
Question: Can individual faculty members opt out of the union?
Answer: No. If representation is elected, ALL eligible Crookston faculty will be represented by UEA and required to pay at least a fair share fee. No eligible faculty will be able to negotiate terms and conditions of employment directly. All eligible faculty will be bound to terms negotiated in the resulting contract.
Question: Will the University or the Union know how I vote?
Answer: No. The election is conducted by a secret mail ballot. The ballots are mailed and returned directly to the Bureau of Mediation Services who will record the ballots. Neither the University nor the union will know how you vote. You are not obligated to tell anyone how you voted.
Question: Does signing an authorization card require me to vote for the union?
Answer: You are free to vote for or against representation regardless of whether you have signed or not signed an authorization card. The election is conducted by secret ballot, and the confidentiality of your vote is completely protected.
Question: What are the reasons for having a union vote at this time?
Answer: The University was not made aware of the reasons for the unionization vote. The union collected the required 30 percent of cards, which were forwarded to the Bureau of Mediation Services on October 13, 2004. A pre-hearing conference was held on November 10, 2004, and a vote is scheduled for January 10, 2005. At no time does the process require that the employer be informed of the rationale behind the decision to vote.
Question: Do I need to vote?
Answer: Yes. Those who vote will determine the future of all Crookston faculty members. If a majority of those casting ballots vote to be represented by UEA and a part of Unit 9, all eligible Crookston faculty members will be represented by UEA. If a majority of those casting ballots vote to remain non-union, all eligible Crookston faculty members will continue to deal directly with administration and the Board of Regents regarding terms and conditions of employment. Consequently, your vote is critical.
Question: How might Duluth impact decisions?
Answer: UEA represents over 400 Duluth faculty members. Consequently, if union representation is elected, Duluth would have a large majority of the members. Additionally, although both campuses would fall under one contract, terms can be negotiated separately, meaning that Crookston’s terms may look very different than those that currently exist in the UEA contract.
Question: What terms must be negotiated?
Answer: If a union is elected, the University and UEA are obligated to negotiate in good faith on “terms and conditions of employment” such as hours of work, benefits, pay, and vacation. However, the University is not obligated to negotiate on matters of “inherent managerial policy” including, but not limited to, the creation or closure of academic programs, overall budget, utilization of technology, organizational structure, class size, workload, percentage of appointments used, selection, directions, and number of employees.
Question: What terms would change?
Answer: There are no guarantees, and unionizing would not add resources that do not currently exist. The University would have to negotiate terms and conditions of employment with the union and work within its current financial constraints. Crookston would fall under the same contract as Duluth, but terms and conditions could be negotiated separately. This means that we simply do not know how unionizing may or may not impact terms and conditions of employment.
Question: How will my teaching workload and rate of pay be impacted?
Answer: The union cannot promise changes to workload or pay. Both the union and the University must agree to any changes to terms and conditions of employment.
Question: What protections are in place to prevent intimidation from the Union organizing committee or other pro-union advocates?
Answer: The Bureau of Mediation Services prohibits the union from interfering, restraining, threatening or coercing employees with the intent to influence an eligible voters’ choice. Behavior such as those identified above are illegal and impair the right of faculty to make a free and fair choice. If you have any concerns about this, please bring them to Les Johnson, human resources director for the Crookston campus.
Question: Are union members required to pay dues?
Answer: If union representation is chosen, all Crookston faculty will have two choices: pay full dues or pay a fair share fee. By law, the fair share fee can be up to 85 percent of the regular dues. It is important to note that fair share union members may not have voting rights. State law also requires that dues and fair share fees be deducted from members’ paychecks and forwarded to the union.
Question: How much are the dues and fair share fees?
Answer: UEA has a responsibility to disclose information about dues if requested by eligible voters. You also have the right to find out what portion of your dues or fair share fee would be forwarded to the union’s state or national organizations.
Question: What is UEA?
Answer: The University Education Association (UEA) is a part of Education Minnesota, an organization that represents over 70,000 educators, mostly K-12 and community and technical colleges. If Crookston faculty choose to unionize, all eligible faculty members would be represented by UEA and included in Bargaining Unit 9. This unit also represents faculty at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The University of Minnesota , Crookston (UMC) is one of four campuses in the University of Minnesota land grant system.  UMC is a coordinate campus that provides a unique approach through applied and polytechnic baccalaureate education, research, and service.

UMC is an equal opportunity educator and employer