ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Lecturers at the University of Michigan are demanding a fair contract. Several dozen took part in a demonstration on behalf of about 1,800 that could potentially be impacted at all three of UM's campuses.
The lecturers marched about a quarter mile from Palmer Commons to the University Administration Building. Dozens of the 1,800 lecturers represented by the union were present from the three campuses.
They're threatening to strike after 6 months of contract negotiations with the university.
Jamie Wraight is a history lecturer at the Dearborn campus.
“We’ve been bargaining now with the administration since October. We’ve passed a lot of good things, reached a lot of good tentative agreements," he said.
However, Wraight said wages are the sticking point where the lecturers union and the university still don’t see eye to eye.
“The thing is, lecturers like me in Dearborn and my colleagues in Flint are being offered quite a bit less of a percentage raise than lecturers here in Ann Arbor," he said.
I asked why he thinks that is.
"Well, the administration tells us because Flint and Dearborn don’t have the money. We’re not sure… I know they don’t have the money, but the money can be moved from Ann Arbor to Dearborn and Flint," Wraight said.
Stephanie Gelderloos, an English lecturer at UM-Flint said, "We’ve been in a long battle for a little over a decade now so that lecturers could make a decent wage.”
She said the union made great gains in the last two contracts. However, for the upcoming contract, the union said university administration is offering a 5 percent salary increase to Ann Arbor lecturers while only offering a 2.25 percent salary increase to lecturers at the Dearborn and Flint campuses.
They said it's not only unequal but it doesn’t keep up with the inflation.
“And we teach more classes as lecturers in Flint and Dearborn than teachers here in Ann Arbor do. And our pay is right now equal, but there are moves to make it where we’re making less again than those in Ann Arbor. I think where there’s more need, there should be more resources not less.”
“Additionally, a lot of people are struggling with childcare. They can’t afford their childcare," she said.
The current contract expires April 20th. David Zeglen, a lecturer in international studies at the Ann Arbor campus, said that's when a strike could happen.
“Classes will be done by then, but there’ll still be a lot of business and administration happening, there’ll still be students taking final exams. And our job would be to disrupt that. So, we can put more pressure on the administration. So, we could close down buildings.”
7 Action News reached out to the university for comment.
The university provided the following statement:
Today marked the 18th negotiation session between the union and the university. The university’s bargaining team continues to work productively [hr.umich.edu] with union leaders and has made significant progress on many of LEO’s priorities. We are hopeful that both parties will continue to make progress and reach an agreement soon.
Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint have separate and independent funding sources and budgets that pay for lecturers’ salaries. The three campuses make budgetary decisions independently and have their own allocations and expenses based on their unique financial structures. UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint differ from Ann Arbor in their ability to sustain wage increases due to their individual financial positions.
The university’s bargaining team has proposed salary increases for lecturers on each campus that reflect the financial situation of each campus.
