In fall 2010, faculty at Bowling Green State University in Ohio voted to unionize, naming our local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the BGSU Faculty Association, or BGSU-FA, its sole representative body for contract negotiations with administration. All full time faculty at BGSU are represented by the BGSU FA in accordance with Chapter 4117 of the Ohio Revised Code.
A chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has existed at BGSU since the 1960s. In 1976 it established itself as the BGSU Faculty Association, adopted a constitution, and elected officers.
BGSU-FA Officers, June 1977
President: Joseph B. Perry
Vice President: Ralph Wolfe
Secretary-Treasurer: Martha Eckman
Council Member-At-Large: George Rendina
BGSU-FA Officers, October 2010
President: David Jackson
Vice President: Geoff Howes
Secretary: Lori Liggett
Treasurer: Joe Chao
Votes to unionize failed in 1979 and again in 1994, but a new movement began to build once again in 2008.
A petition signed by 83 faculty members in June 2008 raised concerns about shared governance and administrative transparency. A meeting of Faculty Senate and University Administration took place in July of that year to discuss these concerns. Dissatisfied with the outcome of this and subsequent conversations, many faculty began to advocate for collective bargaining.
Working with representatives from the national AAUP, the BGSU-FA pursued a strategy of obtaining majority support from faculty and certifying a vote among eligible bargaining unit members. A card campaign was carried out from January 2009 through June 2010, in which faculty who wanted to vote on unionization were urged to sign cards during office visits made by colleagues and AAUP representatives. Over 50% of faculty had signed cards by January 2010, and a vote was held by the State Employee Relations Board in September and October of that year. The results were counted and certified by SERB on October 20, 2010. The effort passed with 57% of faculty in favor of unionization.
Key issues included contracts and compensation for qualified-rank faculty (known at that time as non-tenure-track faculty) and overall rates of compensation and benefits for BGSU faculty as compared to peer institutions.
After the vote, a new constitution was written and passed by the membership, new officers were elected, and a bargaining council consisting of faculty from each of the university’s college’s was formed.
The council, led by Rich Anderson, was charged with examining current policies related to benefits, family issues, governance issues, grievance issues, the status of qualified-rank faculty, and salaries. The council, officers and negotiating team also looked at the collective bargaining agreements of peer institutions and met with bargaining unit leaders from nearby institutions and the AAUP to learn more about the process of writing and negotiating an initial contract.
Chief Negotiator Candace Archer led the FA’s first negotiating team to a successful ratification our first collective bargaining agreement. This process lasted through the spring of 2013, during which time salaries and benefits remained frozen.
In the middle of these negotiations, the Ohio State Legislature passed Senate Bill 5, which proposed to strip all public employees in the state of Ohio of their collective bargaining rights and redefine faculty as “managers.” A strong coalition of labor unions throughout the state, including teachers, firefighters, police, and private-sector unions, banded together in 2012 to bring the measure to the ballot in November and soundly defeat it. The following spring, BGSU’s first collective bargaining agreement was ratified, and our first contract went into effect on May 1, 2013.
Negotiations for our second contract began in 2015. A new chief negotiator, Steve Demuth, along with a new Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Bill Balzer, agreed to try a different method of negotiation for this contract, called Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB). IBB asks both sides to share their “interests” for the new contract and encourages all negotiating team members to work together to brainstorm acceptable solutions, making it potentially less confrontational and time-consuming than traditional negotiations. This process was used successfully for both the second contract, which went into effect in July 2016, and the third, which went into effect in July 2019.
Since receiving its mandate from BGSU faculty in 2010, the BGSU FA has worked hard to represent and support faculty at Bowling Green State University and build productive relationships with BGSU administrators. An all-volunteer organization, the FA relies heavily on the willingness of our members to give their time and expertise on behalf of our community. We urge you to join us and get involved in your union! Remember: faculty working conditions are student learning conditions!
BGSU-FA Negotiating Team (2011-2013)
Candace Archer, Chief Negotiator
Christina Geunther
Joel O'Dorisio
Al Gonzalez
Jim Evans