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Ann Arbor English vs LEO: a timeline |
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Saturday, 05 June 2010 00:00 |
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Timeline of the Ann Arbor English Department’s Relationship with LEO
The dismissal of LEO Vice President and Chief Grievance Officer Dr. Kirsten Herold by the Department of English on the Ann Arbor campus is part of a long series of actions by that department toward the union and its members.
2001-03
- The Lecturers’ Union is being organized.
- A large number of Lecturers in Ann Arbor English are told that they would not be needed in winter 2003 because most writing courses would be moved from winter to fall semester. After protests, a letter writing campaign, and meetings, several Lecturers are hired back.
- There is a general anti-union atmosphere in the Ann Arbor English Department. People are told to remove union materials from office doors if they want to keep their jobs.
- Lecturers from creative writing program are told that a union will ruin the program.
- Kirsten Herold, a lecturer in the Ann Arbor English Department who is heavily involved in Union organizing, is harassed with anonymous notes in her mailbox. Union related items are repeatedly removed from her office door.
April and May 2003
- Lecturers vote 631 to 135 to unionize and MERC certifies LEO.
Summer 2003
- Collective bargaining of the first LEO contract begins.
- The Ann Arbor English Department begins general unloading of Lecturers. 43 lecturers sign an open letter to the Department complaining about secretive hiring processes and feeling mistreated and disrespected.
- Herold serves as campus chair and bargaining team member. She is told that she will only work in fall 2003. Prior to this she had worked nearly every semester since 1992 – most of those absences were voluntary.) She is later able to defer one of her two courses until winter 2004.
Winter 2004
- Fifteeen lecturers not hired back for winter, eventually that number is reduced to 11 because of efforts of LEO.
Summer 2004
- First LEO-UM Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is ratified.
- LEO bargaining team member and English Lecturer L.K. is dismissed.
- English Lecturer M.S. dismissed. Grievance filed for hiring outside the long recall list.
Fall 2004
- First CBA is in effect. The first of the major reviews specified in the contract are scheduled to take place during winter 2005.
- The five (later three) most senior Lecturers in the English Department are told that they won’t be needed [laid off] in winter 2005. This includes Kirsten Herold.
- A grievance over the layoff is settled. In return for not laying off the Lecturers, the English Department is given the right to hire a "quota" of the department’s recent MFA and PHD graduates rather than Lecturer’s on the layoff list as is specified in the CBA
Winter 2005
- The first round of major reviews are conducted and four of nine (44%) of Ann Arbor English Department Lecturers fail. These Lecturers had at least sixyears of prior service in the department, some more than ten. No other unit in the University fails this great a proportion of Lecturers.
- Herold, now serving as the Union's vice president and chief implementation and grievance officer, is one who fails their review.
- Due to their length of service, the Lecturers who fail are placed on probation.
Summer 2005
- The English Department wants to fill two positions with external hires without posting the positions or recalling Lecturers from the layoff list as specified in the CBA. As a compromise, LEO proposes hiring one outside candidate and one current Union member to fill the positions. The unit is extremely upset because it feels that the Union is interfering with its academic judgment. The department hires no one.
Winter 2006
- Six of nine lecturers in Ann Arbor English (66%) pass their major review; three fail, two for the first time.
- A popular Lecturer in English – AFT Organizer I.F. -- fails his major review following a probationary period. LEO grieves but reluctantly gives up on arbitration when the Union’s attorney advises that the CBA offers little protection against academic judgment.
Fall 2006
- A group of lecturers send a letter to the Ann Arbor English Department requesting a more transparent review process as well as regular staff meetings to enable Lecturers to participate more fully in the life of the department. The department says no to most suggestions, noting that the review process developed by the executive committee was “rigorous and fair.”
- The department agrees to one meeting every semester including both Lecturers and GSIs, thereby refusing to recognize Lecturers as a distinct group of employees with different concerns and greater investment in the department.
Winter 2007
- One of four Lecturers (25%) fail their major review in the English Department.
- Collective bargaining of the second LEO contract begins.
- Kirsten Herold is chief negotiator for the Union.
- Management puts her immediate supervisor on its bargaining team.
Summer 2007
- Second LEO-UM Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is ratified.
- In a significant move to accommodate the Ann Arbor English Department, the new contract includes Article XIV Special Cases, which allows for a recent graduate program, international lecturer exchange, dual-career hires, and notable professionals, as well as the opportunity to try out a Lecturer I for one year with no recall rights.
Winter 2008
- Two of nine Lecturers (22%) fail their major review in the English Department.
- A long-term, highly popular Lecturer IV is told that the department is "inclined to fail her" for being "too close to her students." The Lecturer instigates massive letter-writing campaign. The department says they will complete the review next year, which she subsequently passes.
- Kirsten Herold is one of two Lecturer IIs who fail a second major review. In this case the CBA mandates a one-year terminal appointment with remediation and another major review. The Union obtains two-year remediation plans for both lecturers in return for agreeing not to grieve the outcome.
- One condition of Herold’s remediation plan is that she internalize the department's bad opinion of her -- Herold needs “to get on the same page with the department about her performance."
- The English Department wants to discuss with the Union the number of recent graduates to be hired under Article XIV Special Cases. The Union prefers to put off the discussion because it is dealing with the outcome of Herold’s review. Rather than attempt to reschedule the discussion, the department goes ahead and hires recent graduates as Lecturer Is despite the contract.
- Lecturers with successful reviews report extremely negative letters, making them feel as if they are being set up to fail the next time.
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Fall 2008
- The English Department advises Herold that the department will increasingly rely on GSIs to teach writing courses, and that layoffs even among Lecturer IIs are likely during Winter 2009.
Winter 2009
- No major reviews in the Ann Arbor Writing Program this year.
- Enrollments are such that no Lecturers are laid off, although some LIs only teach for fall term.
Fall 2009
- For the first time, most English LIIs do not receive offers of a third course in winter
- The number of GSIs teaching first-year writing is higher than ever, many of them are from departments other than English.
Winter 2010
- LEO begins bargaining its third collective bargaining agreement.
- Two of seven (29%) Lecturers in the Ann Arbor English Department fail their major review.
- Kirsten Herold is one who fails her review. She grieves the decision. Other Lecturer chooses not to grieve although Union advices her she has grounds.
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