 What will it mean to have a faculty union at Miami?
A seat at the decision-making table. Without a union, your employer can continue to make unilateral decisions about our working lives. Together, you and your colleagues can set your own priorities and negotiate binding agreements. It’s the difference between speaking and being heard. Uniting against threats to higher education. Our educational mission is in danger due to attacks on academic freedom; racist suppression of DEI efforts; shrinking public funding; corporatization; and more. Unions can organize faculty in great numbers within and across institutions to fight these trends — at Miami, in Ohio, and across the country. Strong support for transformative diversity and equity. FAM is following in the footsteps of other academic unions that are working to recognize diversity-related service, protect against bias in teaching evaluations, create equitable salary review processes, and more. Miami AAUP has had an explicit commitment to antiracism and worker equity for many years, supporting DEI efforts on campus and fighting anti-CRT legislation. As Department of Labor data shows, unions offer an unparalleled pathway for achieving equity. Better salaries and benefits. Through a union — with increased access to financial information — you and your colleagues can negotiate raises and benefits Miami can afford and you deserve. The evidence is overwhelming that unions have a positive impact on worker compensation. Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that unions raise wages across industries. In 2021, union workers in education occupations made an average 24% per week more than their non-union counterparts—far outstripping the cost of dues. Inclusive and transparent union governance. Over the last year, a FAM committee representing a broad range of disciplinary areas, faculty categories and demographics has been working to draft our constitution and bylaws. They designed equitable governance and leadership structures to ensure that faculty from all divisions, as well as underrepresented colleagues, participate powerfully in union decision-making. Similarly, bargaining will be undertaken by elected members of the faculty from across campus. Ater the election, all faculty have the opportunity to discuss and vote on our constitution & bylaws and select the negotiating team. This is your union! Building a pathway to unionization for visiting faculty and librarians. Although Miami administration succeeded in excluding our colleagues from the current unit, FAM is actively supporting them as they organize their own units. These units will remain part of FAM and part of FAM decision-making. We are one union. Benefits to our community. Anti-union rhetoric has contributed to a long trend of worker disempowerment in the US that has increased precarity and flattened real wages across industries (including higher education). But the tide is turning—to the benefit of not only Miami faculty, but the entire community. 71% of Americans support unionization, and new union filings are up by 57%. Increased density of unionized workers in a community have demonstrably positive effects on local wages, living standards, and democratic rights. Need more information? Read this FAQ on unionization and find out why your colleagues are voting yes. If you haven’t voted yet, do it now! Be part of this hard-won and transformational moment at Miami. Happy voting! FAM Organizing Committee
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 Faculty across disciplines, divisions, ranks and categories share their reasons for unionizing in our new Faculty Voices quotebook — check it out!
 Librarians at the FAM Prom on Friday, April 7 GREAT NEWS: FAM's proposed librarian bargaining unit has been agreed to by the Miami administration. Our librarians can move forward with a vote!
Next, we'll work on the election consent agreement with Miami administration. We hope for a vote sometime this summer. If you're a librarian who would like to participate in organizing, reach out to info@famiami.org! Other faculty can show support by VOTING YES in the upcoming FAM election for TCPL and tenure-line faculty. That will pave the way for success not only for librarians but for visiting faculty organizing at Miami. One Faculty! One FAM! It's almost time to vote yes!Voting for your union begins April 18 and continues through May 2. To count, your confidential ballot must be correctly filled out (please mark your vote with an X, not some other mark!) and mailed within this two-week window. Check the Election Countdown at famiami.org!  Vote in solidarity.
Stop Senate Bill 83!Ohio Senate Bill 83, the so-called "The Higher Education Enhancement Act," was introduced on March 14. The bill would radically reshape higher education as we know it. Among other things, SB 83:
Take Action on SB 83.
FAM PROM is Friday! FAM’s spring social, “FAM Prom: Solidarity Under the Sea” is Friday, April 7, from 6:00pm - 9:00pm at Kofenya in Oxford! Come as you are for refreshments, music, and to take amazing pics at our prom photo booth — props provided! Social Media Highlights |
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