by Nancy Black, IFO President

Dear Colleagues:

Support IFO Contract Ratification
The primary function of the IFO is to negotiate a labor contract setting the pay and working conditions for you as faculty at the seven state universities in Minnesota.  On February 2nd, after many months of tough negotiations, the IFO reached a tentative settlement agreement with MnSCU.  On February 7th, the IFO Board of Directors reviewed the contract and recommended that the membership ratify the Agreement.  

For many reasons, I personally want to urge you to ratify this Agreement by voting “Approve” on Thursday, February 21. The 11.2% increase in salaries over the term of the proposed agreement is the biggest percentage increase in salaries that the IFO has ever negotiated.  If passed, it will start to regain our state universities competitive edge in its ability to attract and retain its high quality faculty members.  We also made many other substantial economic improvements, including:

• Extending the career steps (granting an extra two step increase to faculty when they complete 10, 20, or 30 years of service) to June 30, 2013.  The career steps had expired last June 30th. 
• Adding five steps to the top of the schedule.
• Improving adjunct pay substantially.
• Improving sabbatical pay and availability for newer faculty.
• Putting the early separation incentive into the Health Care Savings Plan—a move that will save the average retiree about $15,000 in taxes.
• A $1.2 million dollar pool for salary equity adjustments.

There are some things in the contract that were proposed by the employer and that the IFO did not support such as the nine month contract for new faculty, “University Scholar” awards, and the Endowed Chair program.   To get some things we wanted (better pay) we had to agree to some things the employer wanted; frankly, that is how contract negotiations work.  Our skilled negotiators and staff were able to shape the language of these new items in ways to make them more palatable than originally proposed.

In the end, I think we got a good deal.  I am convinced that we received every nickel MnSCU had on the table for compensation.  With the state now in recession, and budget cuts looming on the horizon, we felt it was time to wrap up negotiations and try to get the contract ratified by the Board of Trustees and the Legislature before the budget cutting begins in earnest later this spring.   We also wanted to get the pay increases (including back pay) into the pockets of faculty members as soon as possible.

For a more complete summary of the economic package and language changes in the proposed agreement, visit the IFO web page at www.ifo.org.  Also on the web page you can find the complete text of all the proposed language changes, and Article 11 (concerning salaries). 

Next Steps in the Contract Agreement Process
The proposed Agreement must clear several hurdles before it becomes a contract:

• Faculty Ratification.  A membership vote on the contract has been scheduled for Thursday, February 21, 2008.   The polls will close at 4:00 p.m.   Contact your local faculty association for voting processes and polling locations or click HERE for more information.   Ratification of the contract requires an affirmative vote of all those voting on the Agreement, and an affirmative vote by a majority of the campus associations.
• Board of Trustees Approval.  If the proposed Agreement is ratified by the IFO membership, it will go before the MnSCU Board of Trustees for approval.   A special meeting of the Board of Trustees has been scheduled for Friday, February 22nd.
• Legislative Approval.  If the proposed agreement is approved by the MnSCU Board of Trustees, it will be submitted to the Legislative Subcommittee on Employee Relations, which will review the contract and decide whether to include it, along with other state employee proposed contracts, in the bill for contract ratification. That bill must then pass the entire House and Senate and be signed by the Governor.  If the bill passes, pay increases will go into effect and faculty will receive back pay retroactive to fall 2007.  If the legislature adjourns without ratifying the proposed contracts, the proposed contracts are dead and we would revert back to the coverage of our current contract.   If the legislature fails to approve the contract, employees would have the right to strike.  The legislature convened on February 12th, for what is expected to be a short session.  The legislature must adjourn by May 19th.

Information on the Contract
While we are trying to move the contract along for quick passage by the legislature, we also want to make sure every member has adequate time to read the proposed Agreement thoroughly and have their questions answered.   Complete information on the contract, both in summary and detailed language, is posted on the IFO web page.   In addition, Chief Negotiator Rod Henry, Patrice Arseneault, Acting Director of Labor Relations, and I will be traveling to the campuses to hold open informational meetings on the proposed Agreement.   The schedule for these meetings can be found by clicking HERE.

If you have further questions on the contract please contact Rod Henry or me. If you are not an IFO member you can join up to and including the same day as the voting takes place. Please vote on Thursday, February 21st.   This contract substantially affects your rights, salary, and benefits.   Please vote “yes”.

by Cindy Finch, IFO Membership Coordinator & Administrative Assistant

The IFO Delegate Assembly will meet on March 28-29, 2008 in Roseville at the Radisson hotel.  As the supreme governing body of the Inter Faculty Organization, the 206 delegates will set IFO policies, negotiations strategies, dues and budgets for the succeeding two fiscal years as well as deliberate over resolutions dealing with legislative goals. Delegates attending the assembly are contractually released from duty for Friday, March 28.  Advise your Faculty Association President if you wish to become a delegate, by submitting this registration form.  The tentative agenda can be found on the registration form.

Any faculty member may propose a new resolution for consideration at the Delegate Assembly, provided it is signed by the proposer and a seconder, each of whom must be an IFO member.  Such resolutions are to be submitted to your campus Faculty Association (electronic format is greatly appreciated).  Please check with your local Faculty Association for their resolution submission deadline.  Resolutions not submitted through this process may be introduced from the floor at the Delegate Assembly, but only with a majority of delegates voting to consider it and it will require a two-thirds majority to pass.  Continuing Resolutions are available for viewing on our website (this large PDF file may take several minutes to load on your computer).

Please contact your Faculty Association President or Cindy Finch if you have questions at finch@ifo.org or 800/325-9644 or 651/227-8442 x10.