PSUFA Members,

Administration thought that YOU would back down. They expected you to believe their austerity narrative and cower in fear. They expected you to accept the bare minimum. BUT YOU SAID NO! Because of your resounding demands for a FAIR CONTRACT NOW, your attendance at bargaining sessions, your willingness to participate in collective action, and persistent pressure via articles in local news media and the Solidarity Letter signed by over 19 elected local legislators…

Your PSUFA Bargaining Team is happy to announce that a Tentative Agreement (TA) with the University has been reached in this economic reopener.

But we’re not done yet! The language of the TA is still being finalized, and once this is completed PSUFA Membership will be asked to VOTE to RATIFY the proposed contract. In the coming days we will have more information for our members about how and when to cast your vote on the TA. Be sure to keep in mind:

YOU MUST BE A DUES-PAYING MEMBER TO VOTE ON RATIFICATION OF THIS TA.

In order to become a member—if you are not already—sign up now at https://psufa.org/membership. Unsure about your current membership status? Email PSUFA Membership Chair, Vasiliki Touhouliotis.

The details of the TA as outlined below demonstrate significant movement toward all the higher-level demands outlined at the beginning of the bargaining process. We pushed Administration to commit to equal pay for equal work and to keep up with the cost of living over a period of economic instability and inflation. We also made it clear that there need to be raises that reflect length of service to the University and that PSU needs to put an end to the unpaid work that routinely falls on Adjuncts to perform. Access to benefits Adjuncts can use, in the form of health insurance and retirement benefits, and an increase to onboarding and inclusion of Adjuncts in the affairs of their department were also on the table. Although there is always more room for improvement, this TA represents tangible gains in each of these areas.

Had PSUFA Membership backed down on any of these demands, the University would have “given” us the paltry $3.3 million total they offered initially (which would have been an effective pay cut as shown in the comparison table linked below), but because of the strength of our bargaining unit (again, that’s YOU!) this TA package is calculated at $4.6 million—an increase of almost 40% over their initial offer.

 
 

The TA contains a number of gains over what we are provided in our current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and adds new language to provide access to benefits we did not have before. These changes include:

Increases to Instructional Appointment Per Credit Minimum Salary Rates

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $1,271

    • Increase of $35 & 10% COLA

  • Effective Fall Term 2024: $1,339–$1,362

    • Increase of $45 & 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

Increases to Research Appointments Minimum Salary Rates

  • Research Assistant

    • Effective Fall Term 2023: $30.38 per hour

      • Inclusive of 10% COLA

    • Effective Fall Term 2024: $32.23–$32.79 per hour

      • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

  • Research Associate

    • Effective Fall Term 2023: $32.53 per hour

      • Inclusive of 10% COLA

    • Effective Fall Term 2024: $34.42–$35.01 per hour

      • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

NEW: Length of Service Payment

  • One-time payment of $850 to Adjuncts who have worked in the PSUFA bargaining unit for a minimum of 6 years

    • A year of work is defined as an Adjunct working in an Adjunct instructional or research role in any term in an academic year (Fall, Winter, Spring). Years of work will be calculated to include the academic year in which the payment is made and any years of work in the PSUFA bargaining unit prior to that academic year, including non-consecutive years of work.

Increase to Compensation for Committee Service, Advising, Mentoring Activities, and Special Projects and Certain Curricular Development Work

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $29.16 per hour

    • Inclusive of 10% COLA

  • Effective Fall Term 2023: $30.99–$31.53 per hour

    • Inclusive of 1.75%–3.5% COLA, variable based on CPI-U West

  • NEW: Addition of compensation for Course Development

    • Up to $500 for either a new course that the department has not previously offered or an existing course that requires major curricular revisions

      • “Curricular revisions” defined as requiring change to 50% or more of the course content as determined by the Department Chair

    • Paid at the committee service rates above

Increase to Compensation for Independent Study Supervision

  • 1 credit hour: $153

  • 2 credit hours: $230

  • 3 credit hours: $306

  • 4 credit hours: $383

Increase in Compensation for Contract Negotiations

  • The University will compensate up to three (3) bargaining unit members four (4) credits per term for the purpose of preparing for and participating in contract negotiations for the duration of the contract negotiations not to exceed a maximum of four (4) terms.

Increase to Release Time for Other Union Duties

  • Provides an additional one hundred (100) hours, for a total of seven hundred (700) hours

NEW: Retirement Benefits Paid by the University

  • For eligible Adjuncts selecting PERS (Public Employees Retirement System):

    • PSU shall pay the six-percent (6%) employee contribution to any eligible Adjunct faculty employee’s Individual Account Program (IAP)

  • For eligible Adjuncts selecting ORP (Optional Retirement Plan) in Tiers 1, 2, or 3:

    • PSU shall pay the employee contribution satisfying the 414(h) contribution option

Sick Leave

  • No cap on hours accrued

  • Hours accrued at the same rate as full-time faculty

    • 1 hour sick leave for 21.66 hours of work

Increase to the Faculty Education Fund (FEF)

  • PSU contributes additional $20,000 per year (up to $65,000)

  • PSU language change on the per credit amount rate to $31 per credit hour

Increase to the Technology Fund

  • PSU contributes $20,000 per year

  • Individual eligibility increased to $1,500 per person

Increase to the Adjunct Faculty Assistance Fund (AFAF)

  • PSU contributes additional $25,000 per year (up to $325,000)

  • Additional money will be available for any purpose as articulated in that article, including financial hardship and/or caregiving expenses

NEW: Adjunct Inclusion Fund

  • PSU provides $7,500 per year to provide up to ten (10) departments with high academic density money to pay adjuncts to participate in department meetings and/or other departmental work.

For all the finer details on the Tentative Agreement and how this compares with what had previously been offered by the University, check out our PSU Proposals & TA Comparison PDF.

 
 

Again, the PSUFA Bargaining Team wants to extend a round of applause to YOU! Bravo to all who attended bargaining sessions and showed up in solidarity throughout the process. We are also immensely grateful for our supportive community members outside the bargaining unit who have actively and vocally supported our cause, including many State and Local elected officials. Thank you as well to the media outlets who covered our struggle.

In Solidarity,

PSUFA Bargaining Team
Ariana, Lyndsie, Vasiliki, Brittney, Alison, Rob, and David