On Reporting Negotiation Updates

I tread into this post with trepidation.  In general, I have been critical of too much armchair quarterbacking about negotiation, and I don't want to encourage it.  But I also recognize a significant concern among FA members that they are not getting sufficient updates online about the negotiations.  I think it is accurate that the other IEA/NEA unions have been doing a better job about posting helpful if not too detailed on-line updates of the bargaining process.  This point has been recently raised at the DRC (by me and others), and I believe there will information forthcoming.  In a previous comments thread, Dave Johnson has promised an email summarizing bargaining today.  I will share that email here when it comes out. After the break, I will do my best to summarize my understanding of what has been said this week about bargaining.

When "Facts" Become Petulant

As the unions kicked off the official opening of Strike Headquarters this afternoon, the Chancellor sent around a new missive proclaiming "facts" about the history of these negotiations.  Was someone jealous there was a party that she was not invited to?  Here's the text of her recent email; I'll have comments for each of her "facts" after the break.

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Important Legal Notification

And on a definitely more serious note...

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Here are the links mentioned in the document:

Entire IELRA is at http://www2.illinois.gov/elrb/Pages/acts.aspx

FA Web Site http://siucunions.wordpress.com

FSN Moves Forward with its Petition

Many of you probably received the oh-so-very-clear Faculty for Sensible Negotiation's email today outlining the process by which we shall move forward with decertifying the Faculty Association.  You can read it and comment on it by following this link, but I'll take a whack at making sense of it after the break.

Dave Johnson on Morning Conversation (10/26/2011): SIUC Faculty Association

Morning Conversation (10/26/2011): SIUC Faculty Association | Podcast Player | WSIU Radio

Dave Johnson did an excellent job answering rather pointed questions from "Morning Conversations" host Jennifer Fuller this morning. Admittedly I am biased, but it seemed to me that her questions were a bit more probing than they are when President Poshard or Chancellor Cheng are her guests. Nonetheless, I think Dave did a great job responding to them, and I applaud the rigor of the interview. I hope that Fuller will continue to ask tough questions and tough follow-up questions of all her guests.

IEA Legal Analysis of Chancellor Cheng’s FAQ to GAs

The GAU site has an IEA legal response to the Chancellor's FAQ regarding GAs and their rights during a strike.  You can find it here, but since some folks are having difficulty seeing or using the links, I'll copy it in total after the break.  I am startled -- simply startled! -- that a legal analysis would find our Administration heavy-handed and in potential violation of Illinois labor law.  (Yes folks, that is sarcasm...but not intended as "a substitute for argument" in this case.)

Are Faculty Strikes Effective?

If the FA were really guilty of groupthink and I were taking on the role of "mindguard," I would probably hide this recent bit of somewhat depressing news from Inside Higher Education.  But I am not, because despite what our critics say, FA members are pretty open to critique and different points of view.  I'll offer a few comments after the break, but mostly I think this one gets to go forward to comments. 

Sunday Cartoon

Different Strategies for Hard Times

We are close to being done with labor negotiations, one way or another.  This is a time to find the survivable middle ground in the positions staked out by different constituencies.  But as we try not to implode in the endgame, it's worth thinking about how we started and how this whole thing might have played out differently.  There are a host of possibilities; after the break I link to two that I think show an interesting spectrum.