Faculty Demonstrate Against Proposed Contract Changes

Approximately 140 faculty and students rallied at Kirby Bus Hub on October 5 to show support for the University Educators Association’s ongoing contract negotiations with UMD administration. The UEA, the faculty union for UMD, object to proposed increases in workloads and are advocating for better treatment of term faculty. Faculty have been working under the 2022-2023 contract since its expiration on June 30. 

The rally was held from 12:00 to 12:15. "We thought we'd start with a manageable 15 minutes," Schwetman said. "Depending on turnout and response, we will have a longer rally next time." (10/05/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

“The university is looking at larger changes. Larger changes than we’re used to and faster than we’re used to,” UEA-Duluth President and UMD Professor John Schwetman said. “We’re talking about some pretty significant proposed increases to teaching loads.” 

UMD administration’s new terms would lead to professors having to teach one more class per semester. Faculty are worried this will take time away from their research and may have a negative impact on the quality of education students receive. 

Faculty were encouraged to dress in black and wear "UEA Strong" stickers. Professors brought homemade signs, some reading "Chop from the Top!", "UEA Strong", "Our Working Conditions = Student Learning Conditions!" and "Don't Kill My Research." (10/05/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

“We’re doing this for our students because we know that our working conditions are our student’s learning conditions,” Professor Ari Feld said. “It will be impossible to deliver the excellence and education that all educators at UMD strive for if we’re saddled with unsustainable teaching.”

An increase of this kind had been off the table in previous years due to terms attached to the faculty contract known as memoranda of understanding (MOUs). But these are no longer respected by the administration.

“The employer has unilaterally said that they will stop honoring all MOUs,” UEA Lead Negotiator Brianna Gross said. “It’s clear that their objective in that action is to raise our workload by getting rid of that MOU.”

In addition to increased workloads, UEA is pushing back against a clause which allows for the nonrenewal of term faculty at any time prior to the start of the following school year. Faculty have taken to calling it the ‘heinous clause.’ Feld, who is a term faculty member, coined the name. 

"You are not alone in this fight!" says Denise Specht (right), president of Education Minnesota, the union for almost every K-12 educator in MN. "Your fight is our fight, and we will do this work together!" (10/5/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

“I actually named it the ‘odious clause,’ but somehow it transformed into the ‘heinous clause,’ Feld said. “And both of those nomenclatures are accurate. It’s really an affront to the dignity of the term faculty here.” 

“The ‘heinous clause’ allows the administration to cancel our notices of employment up until the day classes start,” Feld said. “We are ‘on the hook’ over the summer and just have to hope that the administration honors its commitment to replacing our employment here.” 

Ari Feld demonstrates against the 'heinous clause,' a term he coined." (10/05/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

The clause can be found in the letters of appointment of term faculty, but the UEA is hoping to add protections to term faculty into the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“We have to just find some way we can put language in here to really mitigate the effects of that clause if they want to continue insisting on including it in letters of appointment,” Schwetman said.  

UEA-Duluth President John Schwetman (right) addresses the crowd. (10/05/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

After failing to reach an agreement since the start of negotiations in May, UMD and UEA have agreed to enter into mediation with the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services. 

"Chop from the top!" Professor Ari Feld leading a call and response chant. (10/05/23 Photo by Seth Roeser)

“You’re seeing us becoming much more active and advocating for ourselves than we’ve been in the past,” Schwetman said. “I think times have changed and the economic pressures on our campus have changed and we’re responding to that. And that’s what we have to do and I hope the rally conveys that.”