Yes, We Have a Contract
On December 11, 2003, the RAs voted 96-1 in favor of ratifying their first collective
bargaining agreement (Shaw, 2004). As shown in Exhibit B, the contract included
wage increases in each year of the two-year agreement, retroactive to September
2003. The RA stipend increased from $50.29 a week ($1,710 per year) to $61.76
($2,100 per year) for the 2003-2004 academic year, and to $64.71 ($2,200 per
year) for first-year RAs in the 2004-2005 academic year. RAs returning for a second
year received a stipend of $66.18 ($2,250 per year). The contract maintained the
double room, Wellness Center privileges and telecom fee waivers, and a telephone fee
waiver was added. In addition, RAs received improved parking privileges.
RAs now would be required to pay a $10 union initiation fee and union dues (about
2 percent of gross pay) to join and maintain union membership. RAs could decide
to not join or be a member of the union, but those who did would be required to
pay an agency fee of about 1.5 percent of gross pay (Anonymous, 2002a). Through
the agency fee, non-members pay for services provided by the union related to
collective bargaining and contract administration activities but not for other union
expenditures such as funds used for union organizing, lobbying or for political
purposes.
The contract also included a binding four-step grievance/arbitration procedure.
The range of issues covered by the grievance/arbitration procedure was limited. The
contract stated: “A grievance may not be brought which addresses issues excluded
from the scope of agreement described in Article 3. … The parties agree that any
grievance in whole or in part raising issues excluded from the scope of agreement
in Article 3 is exempted from … matters which may be submitted to arbitration”
(Agreement Between the Board of Trustees and UAW Local 2322, 2003-2005).
Arbitration is a process where a neutral third party offers a final and binding
decision to resolve a grievance. It is the last step in a grievance procedure in a
unionized workplace.
26 © 2011 Society for Human Resource Management. Patrick P. McHugh, Ph.D.
Article 3 limited the parameters of negotiation and arbitration: “The parties agree
that the subjects of negotiation and the scope of this agreement shall extend only
to the wages, hours, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment for
bargaining unit members and that the scope of this agreement shall explicitly exclude
all academic matters and all non-employment matters related to the student status of
bargaining unit members; and that there be no substitution of an arbitrator’s or any
other individual’s judgment for that of the university with respect to any academic
matter or any other aspect of a bargaining unit member’s status as a student. Matters
explicitly excluded from the scope of negotiations and coverage of this agreement
include, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, academic, disciplinary or
other prerequisites for service or continued service as a member of the bargaining
unit, as well as grading policies and practices, academic standards, the rules,
standards, and administration of financial aid, and the code of student conduct,
its administration and associated procedures” (Agreement Between the Board of
Trustees and UAW Local 2322, 2003-2005).
On January 16, 2004, the university and the union signed the agreement with an
expiration date of June 30, 2005 (UAW Local 2322, 2010).
Case Questions:
1. What percentage stipend increase did the RAs receive over the life of the two-year
agreement? In each of the next two contracts, what was the percentage stipend
increase (see Exhibit B)?
2. What do you see as the costs and benefits of union representation for RAs?
3. Why is Article 3 of the agreement important?
4. Under the contract terms, which of these scenarios could result in an RA grievance?
a. A concern about the allocation of parking privileges.
b. Being turned down for a financial aid request that results in an RA
needing to resign from his or her position since he or she can no longer afford
to attend the university.
c. Receiving an arbitrarily low grade in a course, thereby dropping the RA’s
GPA below that required to maintain the RA position.
d. Removal from the RA position as a result of discipline arising from a
supposed violation of the university’s alcohol policy under the code of student
conduct.
e. A disagreement with a resident director regarding the equitable assignment
of weekend work hours.
5. What information and recommendations do you think Flynn Oberond should convey to
the administrators at Sofie College?