 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Union assails USF over ending contract
By KEVIN GRAHAM TAMPA -- University of South Florida faculty union leader Roy Weatherford lashed out at USF president Judy Genshaft and the board of trustees Monday over the university's decision to end its collective bargaining agreement with the union. USF is choosing not to honor the pact, saying it expires Jan. 7. But Weatherford, president of USF's chapter of United Faculty of Florida, said the contract was good for a full academic year, which runs through the spring semester. The two sides also are at odds about faculty union representatives taking time away from the classroom to conduct union business. Under an agreement negotiated three years ago, the university promised to release a small group of faculty union representatives from teaching assignments each year so they could process grievances, negotiate the contract and meet with faculty and administrators. Weatherford received a letter last week from the provost's office notifying him that USF would cease to honor the agreement after Jan. 7. In the letter, associate provost Philip Smith said the university would be violating state and federal labor laws by giving "unfair assistance" to the faculty union if no certified agreement were in place. The current bargaining agreement was ratified in 2000 under the Board of Regents, which Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature abolished last year. Weatherford said the faculty union was the legal organ that represents more than 1,000 faculty members and negotiates their salaries, sabbaticals and tenure. Therefore, the university is obliged to deal with the union, Weatherford said. "This is not the way things work in labor law," Weatherford said. "People don't lose their rights, their protection, just because the employer refuses to negotiate." But USF spokesman Michael Reich said legally, the university's hands are tied. When the Board of Regents was abolished, authority for overseeing the universities fell to the Florida Board of Education. But Amendment 11, approved by voters in November, created the Board of Governors to establish statewide policy and spend money. Starting Jan. 7, employees at the universities will no longer have valid collective bargaining agreements with the education board. Instead, trustees at individual schools will be responsible for union agreements. Trustees say they need to wait until January to negotiate with the unions. The decision means thousands of employees may be working in January without contracts. But Tom Auxter, president of the state chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, disagrees. His organization joined a lawsuit filed in Leon Circuit Court last week that seeks to hold the state Department of Education and Board of Education responsible for the terms in the current collective bargaining agreement. The suit was filed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the state's public employees union. The union says the state Board of Education is breaking its promise to honor employment contracts beyond January, when the individual boards are to get additional power. Auxter said USF and the other 10 state universities are experiencing the same problems. "It's not up to Judy Genshaft to make up rules," Auxter said. "It's time for president Genshaft to show some leadership by dealing with the faculty and not hide behind lawyers."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
