Hello, general membership!
We are in the midst of this year's bargaining season. As of 5/26/23, FSU's bargaining team has proposed that we consider taking a two-year contract rather than a one-year contract. To date, the FSU bargaining team has offered:
- Article 22: Across the board raise of 5% which would increase the minimum stipend to $17,100 (no change from their previous proposal); per semester fee relief of $250 for .50 FTE GAs (increase of $50 from previous) and $125 for .25-.49 FTE GAs (increase of $25 from previous)
- Article 16: 79.9% health insurance premium coverage for .50 FTE GAs, 58.2% coverage for .25-.49 FTE GAs (no change from the 2021-2024 CBA; they've rejected both of our proposals entirely)
- Article 2: 5 business days paid prep time before semesters (no change from the 2021-2024 CBA; they rejected our proposal entirely)
At the last bargaining session on 5/26/23, the FSU bargaining team, in addition to this largely unmoving counter, proposed having these changes re-apply for next year as well. As the proposed changes to the articles stand (keeping in mind that their proposals for the raises/increase to minimum stipend might still change), this would entail:
- A 5% raise for the 2023-2024 academic year (minimum would increase to $17,100)
- A 5% raise for the 2024-2025 academic year (minimum would increase to $17,955)
For context, due to SB 254/HB 1445, there is every chance that our union will be decertified next year if we don't reach 60% membership density. So, if we accept this two year contract, we might not ever get to have another full book bargaining (wherein we open all the CBA articles) but would be guaranteed another raise in the following year. If we don't accept the two-year contract, it's certainly possible that we will be decertified in the middle of full book bargaining and have no new contract at all for the following year.
We are having a bargaining committee meeting this Wednesday at 5 PM in the Keen Building Room 701, which you are welcome to attend. At this meeting, general members will have the opportunity to share their opinions with the GAU bargaining team in person. However, regardless of if you have the ability to attend this meeting, we encourage general members to complete this form to share your opinion with us in this way as well!
Hope to see you Wednesday.
Best,
FSU-GAU Bargaining Committee
