Frequently Asked Questions - Faculty Petition for Representation

It is the University’s understanding that a group of Ohio University faculty, with support from the national labor organization American Association of University Professors (AAUP), submitted the petition for representation to the State Employment Relations Board (SERB). The AAUP is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Leaders from AFT and AAUP are involved in discussions with local faculty and AFT/AAUP leaders and lawyers have been involved in SERB proceedings.  

First and foremost, we believe all faculty should have a voice in this decision, and the University encourages all eligible faculty members to participate in the vote, which is currently anticipated to begin in February. We will respect the decision of our faculty, regardless of the outcome.  

Ultimately, we believe our University is and will always be at its best when our OHIO faculty and our academic and administrative leadership are able to work alongside one other to plan our collective future, and that the best pathway forward is to continue our direct relationship with faculty without introducing an external third party. National union representatives may neither share our passion for the students and the region we serve nor always prioritize local faculty concerns over larger national union goals. 

First, your vote is your voice. It is important for anyone who wants a voice in the decision to cast their ballot. Passage does not require a majority vote of the eligible members; rather, if more individuals vote yes than vote no, the Union will be established, regardless of voter participation. Put another way, to prevail in a SERB-conducted election, a ballot option must receive a majority of the ballots cast. 

In addition, all of our faculty enjoy freedom of speech and expression, including the ability to voice reasons why you do or do not believe a union would be beneficial or detrimental for our faculty community. 

No specific changes are guaranteed, and no adjustments up or down would be immediate.  

Neither the union nor the University can begin any discussion about a potential Collective Bargaining Agreement until after the faculty vote to unionize and the State Employment Relations Board certifies the potential union. After that point, the bargaining process begins.  

During the initial bargaining process, current pay, benefits and working conditions typically remain at status quo or frozen unless and/or until a contract is agreed upon and ratified. 

The timeline for the bargaining process varies. It is the University’s understanding that the most recent successful faculty unionization effort in the state of Ohio was Miami University. Faculty there voted to unionize in May 2023, and negotiations are still ongoing for a first contract. 

While the petition for union representation process is ongoing, the University is generally remaining at status quo on many topics that relate to faculty conditions of employment including any changes to future compensation. The outcome of the election may play a role in how that looks in the future. Again, if the faculty vote to unionize, many aspects of compensation and terms of employment will be subject to negotiation; these terms and conditions may go up, down or stay the same.

Unionization typically means that individual faculty included in the bargaining unit cannot negotiate directly with management on issues covered by the collective bargaining agreement.  

A typical faculty collective bargaining agreement includes standardized compensation expectations for all union members, for example standard compensation by rank and standard overload pay. 

By way of further example, a faculty member taking on additional duties currently may negotiate directly with a department chair, school director or dean. If a union is formed, management would lose some ability to negotiate directly with individual faculty on compensation matters and must instead follow the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and work through the union’s designated representatives who speak on behalf of their covered members. 

In Ohio, not all issues are subject to collective bargaining.  Technically speaking, “mandatory” subjects are required to be bargained, “permissive” subjects may be bargained but that is up to management, and “prohibited” subjects may not be bargained. 

Generally, a public employer maintains the unilateral authority to determine matters of managerial policy which is not subject to bargaining.  The Ohio Revised Code lists many of these inherent “management rights” such as:  determining the programs of the University, standards of services, its overall budget and organizational structure; evaluating employees; determining personnel and process to carry out its business; and determining the adequacy of the workforce, including layoffs, among others.    

A public employer is not required to bargain on subjects reserved to management unless it voluntarily agrees to in a collective bargaining agreement.  However, because Ohio law requires public employers to bargain with a union on matters relating to wages, hours, or terms of employment, at times a “balancing test” is used to determine when a subject will be subject to bargaining. 

Prohibited subjects are not subject to a balancing test.  For example, according to Ohio law, specifically Ohio Revised Code Section 3345.45, university faculty workload policies are considered a prohibited subject for collective bargaining, meaning that unions cannot negotiate with the university regarding faculty workload under law and the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) rules.  Put another way, the University administration has the authority to determine faculty workload. Ohio law mandates that all state universities establish formal faculty workload policies. These established workload policies are explicitly excluded as not appropriate subjects for collective bargaining. 

Ohio University remains committed to shared governance, regardless of the outcome of this process. If a faculty union is formed, Faculty Senate may lose some ability to address topics currently under its purview. 

Faculty Senate was created by a resolution of the Board of Trustees. The Faculty Senate Bylaws and Faculty Senate Constitution describe the Functions of Faculty Senate. Those functions currently include acting upon faculty grievances and recommending policies related to faculty employment to the Provost.  

As explained above, an analysis would need to be made whether certain subjects now addressed by Faculty Senate (and the Faculty Handbook)  would be “mandatory” subjects required to be bargained, “permissive” subjects that may be bargained but up to management, or “prohibited” subjects that may not be bargained. 

Mandatory subjects once under the purview of Faculty Senate (and the Faculty Handbook) may no longer be able to be addressed in this manner, and may become only subjects for the collective bargaining process.  If so, Faculty Senate would lose some ability to address these topics and they must instead follow the terms of the collective bargaining process and work only through the union’s designated representatives who speak on behalf of their covered members.  It is the University’s current assumption that the establishment of a faculty union would necessitate changes to the functions of Faculty Senate (and Faculty Handbook.) 

This is addressed immediately above.  Again, the Faculty Handbook in its current form may require review and revision if a collective bargaining process is to be established. By way of example, Sections II, III and V of the handbook in particular contain content that would potentially overlap with the labor relations process, and as such, those sections may need to be removed or significantly modified.  

The collective bargaining process typically begins with union representatives and the University both bringing forward their respective bargaining position. Because Ohio University has never operated with a faculty collective bargaining agreement (CBA), both sides would be beginning from “zero.” The Union will set its own bargaining strategy; it may use current compensation practices as a guide in developing its initial bargaining position or it may not. But, there is no guarantee that any or all of the existing compensation practices would be retained in a CBA as everything is subject to negotiations and may go up, down or stay the same. 

Under Ohio law, when a majority votes cast by eligible voters vote in favor of representation by a union, the union represents all members of the certified collective bargaining unit.

You have the right to decide whether or not to become a dues-paying member of the union; however, the terms and conditions of your employment would still be covered by the collective bargaining agreement for your bargaining unit. 

That is governed by union by-laws and is a union matter.  Typically, if a union is formed, eligible members will be paying union dues to AAUP. However, faculty will have options to opt out based on a 2018 Supreme Court Ruling. The Buckeye Institute offers more information on opting out of union dues. 

It is the University’s understanding that union dues are not finalized until after the union is formed. As examples, published dues for active members at the University of Cincinnati are 1 percent of base salary. At Kent State University, dues are 0.8 percent of base salary. 

The union’s “FAQs” on their website state: “Dues must be voted upon by the membership and negotiated with the university. They typically fall at or below 1% of one’s base salary at other unionized campuses in Ohio.” 

It is important to note that you have the right to decide whether or not to become a dues-paying member of the union; however, the terms and conditions of your employment will still be covered by the collective bargaining agreement for your bargaining unit. 

That again is a union matter.  Union decisions, including contract terms and priorities, are usually determined by the union’s internal governance guidelines. This typically means that, even if you disagree with the union’s stance, you are still bound by its decisions and direction.