An interesting message about "collaborating with participating faculty"

On Friday October 25, an interesting message about "collaborating with participating faculty" from university leadership appeared at Marquette Today. Here's what they're saying and what we're saying.

What they're saying

The Office of the Provost was approached by two non-tenure-track faculty members seeking a union to include all Klingler College of Arts and Sciences full-time, non-tenure-track faculty.

What we're saying

The Office of the Provost was approached by two members of the steering committee of UCW-WI representing a supermajority of full-time, non-tenure track faculty in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences who signed union authorization cards indicating their desire to stand together to collectively bargain their contracts with the university.

What they're saying

UCW-WI is a third party.

What we're saying

UCW-WI is a union of campus workers at Marquette University. We organize ourselves and negotiate for ourselves. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops write: “Catholic social teaching supports the right of workers to choose whether to organize, join a union, and bargain collectively, and to exercise these rights without reprisal.”

What they're saying

University leadership are invoking their legal right for a religious exemption from NLRB oversight, specifically to protect the direct relationship with faculty that is critical to the university's Catholic, Jesuit intellectual life.

What we're saying

University leadership is free to invoke their legal right for a religious exemption from NLRB oversight. But they remain free to stipulate to a free and fair election administered by the NLRB or another third party. Indeed, many Catholic, Jesuit universities have stipulated to free and fair elections and collectively bargained with faculty. For example, on Monday October 28, three days after the message from university leadership appeared at Marquette Today, SLU stipulated to an NLRB election to recognize a unit of graduate student workers on campus.

What does this mean?

University leadership prefers not to negotiate with the union. They prefer not to collectively bargain with campus workers. They prefer not to follow Catholic social teaching.

But we remain standing together asking in one voice for our right to organize and collectively bargain.

We ask university leadership to correct its course and instead honor the compassionate core of the religious, intellectual tradition we represent as a university community.

We ask university leadership to open their hearts and minds to the ways unionization may strengthen the university’s Catholic, Jesuit identity and ministry, rather than remaining committed to the spurious idea that our Catholic, Jesuit identity and values preclude collective bargaining with faculty.