Administrators at Oakland University, the Michigan institution where classes have been canceled since Thursday because of a faculty strike, plan to ask a state judge to order professors back to work. The university’s chapter of the American Association of University professors said on its Web site that, a few hours before dawn today, talks held over the Labor Day weekend yielded a settlement agreement that the union’s bargaining team has “no authority to sign.” Negotiators for both sides will meet with a state mediator this afternoon.
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5 Responses to Oakland U. to Ask Judge to Order Striking Professors Back to Work
mal1000 - September 8, 2009 at 9:05 am
For a university whose senior administration’s first question regarding any conflict always seems to be “Let’s keep this out of the news”, I am glad to see that the faculty action is being reported widely. From what I have heard, the culture and atmosphere at Oakland is not good – despite the administration’s attempts to pretend that it is. Oakland has not had much success in attracting senior administrators (e.g. Deans) in recent years with much recruiting from inside after failed searches. I would encourage any potential senior administrator applicant considering applying to Oakland University to ask and read widely about Oakland before applying for a position.
drangie - September 8, 2009 at 3:47 pm
In my experience, one of the reasons places like Oakland have problems attracting deans and other senior administrators is that often the collective bargaining agreements the unions have won severely limit what deans can do, making them, more or less, highly-paid clerks. But opportunities for real leadership are often legislated out by these union agreements.
szgoldberg - September 8, 2009 at 5:23 pm
drangie may not realize it but in many cases the presence of a union on a campus can HELP administrators in many ways. Faculty unions have much at stake regarding the success of their institutions and therefore are often able to work with reasonable administrators for the best interests of all. I am not saying that this is the case everywhere, but it is the case more often than one might think. Where it is not the case there may be blame on one side, on the other, or on both.
mal1000 - September 9, 2009 at 12:45 am
The situations described by drangie and szgoldberg are both possible in general. Regarding the Oakland University situation, a ruling earlier this year by a judge who has no involvement in the current bargaining, indicates, I believe, see something of how OU’s president operates. Just as agreement was very near early this morning, local news has it that the OU bargaining team introduced what has been described as a “full pardon for Russi”. This refers to the AAUP agreeing to abandoning the judge’s ruling referred to earlier. This ruling can be accessed at:http://www.oaklandaaup.org/ULPorder.pdf
mal1000 - September 9, 2009 at 12:48 am
PS. Some gremlins crept in. Third and fourth lines of text should read “…by a judge who has no involvement in the current bargaining indicates, I believe, something of how OU’s president operates.”