A new day for higher ed bargaining

Feb. 2008 - For many years, higher education faculty members were sidelined while other state employees enjoyed the benefits of prebudget negotiations with the State of Montana.

But this year will be different. At MEA-MFT's request, the Montana Board of Regents has agreed to enter into prebudget negotiations with MEA-MFT over faculty salaries and benefits.

That means faculty and regents will be able to reach an agreement before the next legislature convenes, get the agreement included in the governor's budget, and work together to get legislative approval of the pay settlement package.

"This has been our long-time goal, to enter into prebudget negotiations with the regents, just as state employees do with the State of Montana," said Mike Kupilik, president of the University Faculty Association (UFA), MEA-MFT's local union representing University of Montana-Missoula faculty.

"We need to get faculty salaries and benefits into the budgeting process at the very beginning, where it belongs. The quality of education is directly related to the quality of faculty. We can't keep going down this road of substandard salaries without suffering a loss of quality."

Montana faculty salaries have not kept pace with the salaries of faculty members across the nation, Kupilik continued.

MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver, in a letter to the university director of labor relations, said, "We are extremely pleased that the Montana Board of Regents has agreed to take this important step in establishing faculty salaries, compensation and benefits as a necessary component of its biennial budget planning process."

Feaver went on to say, "We are firmly committed to assisting the regents and the Montana University System in their ongoing efforts to address faculty recruitment and retention issues, and we believe that prebudget negotiations is absolutely essential to our mutual success."