The administration and Faculty Association are organizing their bargaining teams as they await final approval of the ‘yes’ vote for unionization.

The election certification will take place at the State Employment Relations Board’s Nov. 18 meeting. SERB sponsored the confidential mail-in vote for unionization that was tallied Oct. 20.

Following certification, the FA will then transition from an advocacy organization to a collective bargaining organization, FA President David Jackson said. Faculty members can then begin contract negotiations with the University as a single unit concerning salaries, benefits and workload.

By the end of the semester, Jackson said he hopes to have a new FA constitution written and ratified, a bargaining team in place and an officer election for that team.

“We’re starting to get everything in place right now and identifying volunteers to do research,” he said. “Our expectation is that members who volunteer will become part of our bargaining team, but anyone can join and any member is eligible to run for any officer position.”

The FA encourages other faculty members to join because although all full-time faculty members are covered by future bargaining contracts, only FA members get to vote on their ratification, Jackson said.

“You get the benefits no matter what; there’s no opting out of the contract,” he said. “The more members we have, the more voices we’re going to hear for amendments and ratifications. We want as many people as possible to join.”

Once a bargaining team is in place, the negotiation process will begin in the near future, in adherence to guidelines provided by SERB, Jackson said.

“We’re prepared to meet with the administration at any time and any place,” he said. “We’ve requested two meetings, one to just discuss where things go from here and another to request changes in the health care plan.”

Jackson described the faculty health care plan as “definitely an issue for collective bargaining” and one of the first things the FA would like to address, so faculty members can work to maintain benefits at the lowest cost.

“It took a tremendous amount of work by volunteers to get us where we are and it’s going to take even more work to get us to the next place,” Jackson said. “We’ve achieved a lot, but there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

After looking at other unionized universities, Dave Kielmeyer, senior director of communications for the University, said there is “a lot to go over” and the process will most likely be lengthy.

“We’re beginning to put together our bargaining team and we look forward to moving forward as timely as we can,” he said. “It’s still very early in the process and all we can say at this point is that we’re committed to sitting down with the union and bargaining in good faith as soon as the results are certified.”

In an Oct. 28 e-mail addressed to faculty and staff, University President Carol Cartwright said she will continue to keep them updated on any changes to operations at the University while, providing “specific guidance to the deans and academic chairs and directors.”

“The administration is committed to working with the new union and other University stakeholders to continue the sound stewardship of the University and to further BGSU’s mission,” she said. “We are encouraged by the statements BGSU-FA leadership has made expressing a similar commitment.”

After vote, FA may join Faculty Senate

The Faculty Senate postponed a vote on FA officers’ request for a liaison senate member Tuesday.

The Senate will address the issue at its December meeting, after the union results have been certified by SERB, said Kris Blair, Faculty Senate chair.

“I wish it could have went forward, but I must respect the preference of the majority of Senate members to postpone,” she said. “Because the SEC supported this recommendation by a large majority, we’re very hopeful the senate will endorse it at the December meeting.”

If the Senate approves the new position, an ex-officio member would represent the FA in Senate dialogues and reports.

The FA would then focus on salaries and benefits issues, while the Senate would focus on curriculum issues and existing committees, Jackson said.

“It never was, and still is not our goal to replace Faculty Senate,” he said. “We think the Faculty Senate and our collective bargaining unit can work very well together, just in different areas. We believe we can help keep the faculty informed, active and energized in all of these topics.”