The University’s fledgling faculty union is rushing to gain members as outside political pressures add urgency to the group’s formation.
“Recruiting is our No. 1 priority right now,” said Michael Russo, associate librarian and co-chair of the union’s membership committee.
Russo said the goal was to get every faculty member involved.
“Realistically, if we can get the majority, we’ll be set,” Russo said.
Russo said the group, announced last semester amid widespread fear of budget cuts, currently has a little more than 100 members.
The University employed a little more than 1,200 faculty last semester, according to the Office of Budget and Planning.
Russo said the union now has enough members to apply for official group status.
“We’re going to make an appointment with payroll to apply shortly,” he said.
Internally, Russo said the group has created “all the necessary formal documents,” including a constitution and by-laws. He said the group has plans to hold elections for officers in April.
Russo said the group is hustling to establish itself as political events unfold that he says threaten faculty.
“People may be under the impression that their rights will just come to them,” he said. “They have to realize that it can all be taken away from you if you don’t do something.”
Russo said faculty should be troubled by developments in the University of Louisiana System, where the Board of Supervisors recently voted to ease restrictions on removing faculty.
The Board voted to allow university administrators facing state general funding cuts of 15 percent or more the leeway to let go of faculty.
Tenured faculty can be let go after six months instead of 12, tenure-track faculty in three months instead of 12 and instructors in a month instead of three.
The proposal earned widespread ire from University of Louisiana-Lafayette faculty, and Russo said faculty in the LSU System should be concerned.
“We are concerned that the LSU Board of Supervisors will try to do something similar,” he said.
Russo also said news from Wisconsin — where Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s attempts to remove unions’ collective bargaining power have incited protests drawing tens of thousands — has added urgency to uniting the faculty.
“There’s a trend of governors trying to remove the bargaining rights of unions,” he said. ”The state isn’t our friend.”
While Russo protests the actions of state government, he said the union is designed to help the University’s administration.
“We want to see the University survive and thrive,” he said. “If we can unite and speak to issues in a unified way, we can really help the administration out.”
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]