Rutgers: A model for the University of Washington?
On January 12, Amy Hagopian wrote to the University of Washington AAUP listserv:
"I had the pleasure in December of meeting with David Hughes, anthropology professor and president of the AFT/AAUP union at Rutgers. ... I learned so much about how life might be like at a large public university with the benefits of a union, and asked him to write his thoughts in the form of a letter to UW faculty."
Hughes's letter (here) extols the benefits of unionization, and dismisses the fears. In the latter vein, Hughes writes:
"Let me start by addressing a fear commonly associated with collective bargaining. The very notion sounds conflictual. Will unionization fracture the community of your university into forever-warring camps of labor and management? ...
"Union leaders and staff enjoy congenial relations with the president of Rutgers University and with the various vice-presidents with whom we bargain. ...
"In short, the union mostly works cordially and collaboratively with administrators on the basis of mutual respect and shared power ..."
We urge you to spend 3 minutes watching the video below of Hughes addressing Rutgers faculty in December 2014 - just one year ago - demonstrating the "congenial relations" that may characterize our future if we allow Rutgers to "provide something of a model for UW."
Is this the future that we desire? Will the University of Washington's excellence be enhanced by pursuing this path?
UPDATE: The leaders of the UW SEIU unionization effort are modeling this behavior. (4/28/2016)
On January 12, Amy Hagopian wrote to the University of Washington AAUP listserv:
"I had the pleasure in December of meeting with David Hughes, anthropology professor and president of the AFT/AAUP union at Rutgers. ... I learned so much about how life might be like at a large public university with the benefits of a union, and asked him to write his thoughts in the form of a letter to UW faculty."
Hughes's letter (here) extols the benefits of unionization, and dismisses the fears. In the latter vein, Hughes writes:
"Let me start by addressing a fear commonly associated with collective bargaining. The very notion sounds conflictual. Will unionization fracture the community of your university into forever-warring camps of labor and management? ...
"Union leaders and staff enjoy congenial relations with the president of Rutgers University and with the various vice-presidents with whom we bargain. ...
"In short, the union mostly works cordially and collaboratively with administrators on the basis of mutual respect and shared power ..."
We urge you to spend 3 minutes watching the video below of Hughes addressing Rutgers faculty in December 2014 - just one year ago - demonstrating the "congenial relations" that may characterize our future if we allow Rutgers to "provide something of a model for UW."
Is this the future that we desire? Will the University of Washington's excellence be enhanced by pursuing this path?
UPDATE: The leaders of the UW SEIU unionization effort are modeling this behavior. (4/28/2016)
