MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Non-tenure track faculty at Central Michigan University are expected to vote soon on certifying the American Federation of Teachers as their union representative, now that a dispute over who would be eligible to join has been resolved, according to The (Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun.
Under an agreement announced Wednesday between CMU and the union, the new bargaining unit is expected to include about 400 non-tenure track faculty members, called "temporary" faculty by the university, who teach at quarter time or greater, including those teaching as few as three credit hours per semester, according to The Morning Sun.
If a majority of the bargaining unit members vote to have the AFT represent them in collective bargaining, then work would begin on an initial contract, The Morning Sun reported. The new group calls itself the Union of Teaching Faculty.
In a related report by Central Michigan Life, the campus newspaper, Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said members should realize gaining membership to the union is only the first step.
"We have one mission: to create the best working environment for employees," he said. "We are the reason for progress."
SOURCES:
(Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun, "Most nontenure-track faculty
to be part of potential new CMU bargaining unit," July 1, 2010
Central Michigan Life, "Non-tenure track faculty, CMU reach union agreement," June 30, 2010
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "More and More a
Political Animal," June 7, 2010
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