Chatham Faculty United

đź‘€ How to spot and debunk 8 common anti-union messages

Chatham administration has hired a law firm with a history of union-busting. Here’s how to spot and debunk common anti-union messages you might hear from the administration. 

What You Might Hear

Debunking the Claim

Costs and Expenses

  • “The union will cost Chatham too much”
  • “We’re in a financial crisis and can’t afford a union”
  • “This will increase costs for students”
  • “You should be grateful for the job and benefits that you still have”

The Truth

âś“ Voluntarily recognizing the union would have been more cost effective than hiring a union-busting law firm.

✓  While union members could be portrayed as greedy, there are many reasons to want to have a union contract: it is enforceable by law, can define shared governance, and gives us a voice in our working conditions. 

âś“  With more transparency around finances, we can work with administration to make sustainable financial decisions.

âś“  Losing good people costs a lot of money through recruitment and hiring expenses: a union contract with shared governance can create a stable, positive workplace that contributes to faculty retention.

Alternative Faculty Representation

  • “You can have a faculty senate instead”
  • “We can have shared governance through new committees, like a budget committee”
  • “Faculty already have a strong voice”

The Truth

âś“  Without a union contract, our committees and even a faculty senate can be ignored or even disbanded by administration. 

âś“  A faculty senate could be written into a union contract, which would be a legal document.

Faculty-Administration Relationships

  • “Unions create an adversarial relationship”
  • “The union is creating conflict”
  • “Unions aren’t conducive to a positive work environment”

The Truth

âś“  While this is another common anti-union message, we could have a very productive and constructive relationship with our employer and play a larger role in solving the problems we see. 

âś“  Chatham already works cooperatively with several other unions that represent staff.

Standardization of Work Rules

  • “Unions will force standardization of rules and policies”
  • “Faculty have benefited from flexibility and you will lose that”
  • “The university requires flexibility to adapt to its unique needs”

The Truth

âś“ Our union contract could adopt the current system for evaluation, promotion, etc., and just focus on getting a cost-of-living raise and fixing areas that are broken. 

âś“  The make-it-up-as-you-go system and oral agreements have worked for some, but others have experienced broken promises, ever-expanding job descriptions, and uncertainty around roles and responsibilities: written agreements would address this.

Direct Communication

  • “It’s better for administration to have direct communication with faculty without a union in the middle”
  • “We can be more collaborative and responsive without a union”

The Truth

âś“  When the administration cut our 401K match and changed our health insurance, did they consult with faculty? 

âś“  Many faculty members have heard these promises of more communication before, and it has not happened when it matters most.

Merit Based Compensation

  • “A union will get rid of merit-based compensation”
  • “We won’t be able to reward high-performing employees”
  • “We won’t be able to get rid of bad employees or address performance issues”

The Truth

âś“  All players in the NFL and Major League Baseball are union members, and their unions do not prevent some players, such as all-star quarterbacks, from getting paid more than a backup kicker. 

âś“  Union contracts can certainly have sound policies about discipline and termination.

Negative Impact on University Culture

  • “A union will disrupt our unique culture at Chatham”
  • “A union will make the workplace more bureaucratic and rule-bound”

The Truth

âś“  Chatham Faculty United is the full-time faculty at Chatham. No one else. We will elect union officers from among ourselves as well as a contract committee. We will vote on contract priorities and have a vote on the negotiated contract. 

âś“  While it is a democratic process, it is doubtful that the faculty will vote for disruptions to our culture or rigid bureaucratic procedures.

Faculty Are Ineligible to Unionize

  • “Faculty are managerial employees and don’t have the right to unionize”

The Truth

âś“ This claim comes from a 1980 court decision that found that faculty at Yeshiva University were managerial employees and had significant authority over most institutional decisions. However, this is not the case with Chatham faculty because most decisions require administration approval.

âś“ Read more here: “Are Faculty Managerial Employees?”