Reasons for the Faculty Job Action at OU
This protest is not really about a pay freeze. It is about governance at the institution, unfair labor practices, hiring, and health care. We are fighting for the future of quality education at OU.
Faculty Strike at Detroit-Area University, Protesting Cuts Amid Surplus
Anger is running high on the Oakland University campus outside Detroit, where tuition increases and a three-year faculty pay freeze has been paired with a $100,000 raise for the school's president. Teachers walked out September 3. Photo: Andre Martin.
Summer will last a little longer at Oakland University, outside of Detroit, as faculty took to the picket line last week. Teachers are challenging the administration’s proposals to freeze pay for three years, extract higher health-insurance costs, and increase use of non-tenure and part-time faculty.
Anger across the OU campus is high: the strike follows the administration’s admission that it made a $14 million surplus last year and gave a $100,000 pay boost to the university president, increasing his salary to $350,000.
Students are especially incensed about the raise, as their tuition increased 9 percent this year.
There are about 18,000 students at OU, an undergraduate and graduate university 25 miles north of Detroit.
Community supporters and students joined the 600-member faculty union (a chapter of the American Association of University Professors), which began the job action on September 3, the first day of classes.
SUPPORT LABOR NOTES
BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR
Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.
A main sticking point in negotiations, ongoing since May, is the administration's intent to strip the AAUP of its rights to faculty governance. Losing those rights would mean the union would no longer have any contractually binding input into the curriculum, how classes are taught, and other educational matters—a grave precedent.
On the first day of the job action, the AAUP’s picket lines covered all entrances, causing the university to cancel classes at 11 a.m. According to OU AAUP President Joel Russell, Teamsters have refused to cross picket lines.
A September 3 rally brought out a diverse crowd, with many hoisting signs reading, “Students Support Our Professors,” and “Higher Education Not Higher Profits.” After the rally the boisterous crowd of hundreds marched around the administration building.
The strike continued Tuesday and the administration cancelled classes again. Bargaining sessions were held throughout the holiday weekend, but the administration refused to budge from its proposals.
Keep the pressure on Oakland University President Gary D. Russi. Call his office at 248-370-3500 and send letters to russi [at] oakland [dot] edu (CC letters to AAUP President Joel Russell at russell [at] oakland [dot] edu).
Bryan G. Pfeifer is the staff organizer with the Union of Part-Time Faculty (UPTF)-AFT at Wayne State University in Detroit.