Sept. 29, 2006 – UVI faculty members will vote in October or early November on whether they want to be represented by the American Association of University Professors in collective bargaining negotiations, UVI professor Lynn Rosenthal said Friday.
He said that the territory's Public Employees Relations Board ruled Sept. 22 that the university must allow the election. The board has 45 days from Sept. 22 to hold the election. No one could be reached at PERB to determine when the election would be held.
UVI President LaVerne Ragster was traveling and could not be reached for comment.
Rosenthal said that when the faculty first began its push for AAUP representation, money was an issue. However, he said since then, faculty members have gotten raises.
"Now the faculty wants more involvement in the decision-making process," Rosenthal said.
He said the university has about 110 faculty members eligible for AAUP membership.
The UVI faculty initially filed for AAUP representation in January 2004 (See "UVI Administration Fighting Faculty Unionization Bid").
According to a press release from the national AAUP organization, UVI administration initially agreed to the election but subsequently argued that the faculty were managerial employees and not entitled to union representation.
Rosenthal said since then, the matter went back and forth among the players until PERB issued its decision on Sept. 22.
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