After the bargaining session this afternoon and a few minutes before I sent out a bargaining update, the Trustees’ Chief Negotiator sent the following out to in-unit faculty:
On behalf of the USF Board of Trustees’ bargaining team, I am pleased to share the following update on the collective bargaining efforts between the University and the faculty union.
USF’s Board of Trustees remains steadfast in its commitment to raising faculty base salaries even in these increasingly difficult economic times. On August 22, 2008, the USF Board of Trustees first proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would have immediately awarded faculty salary increases. Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected at that time by the faculty union. Earlier today the faculty union presented the USF Board of Trustees’ bargaining team with such a MOU for in-unit faculty. We expect to provide a response very soon.
That’s not quite my memory of the Trustees’ proposed MOU. But if the Trustees decide that the MOU put on the table today serves their interests, I will be satisfied and won’t particularly worry about the spin they put on it beforehand. An agreement is an agreement by both parties.