United Academics of Ohio University is getting ready to hold a vote to form a union for professors and teachers at Ohio University.
The election will be done by mail, and the State Employment Relations Board will mail the ballots Feb. 12. The election will be held between Feb. 18 and March 4 with ballots postmarked after not being considered.
This will be the first election of two to form two separate bargaining units. The second election will be held at an unknown date in the future for the clinical faculty, College of Health Sciences and Professions and most of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
According to John O’Keefe, an associate professor of history at OU’s Chillicothe campus and director of communications for UAOU, OU and Ohio State University are the only two universities without unions in the state.
“I think the real big push (for a union) was in the pandemic when there was retrenchment from the university,” O’Keefe said. “Many faculty were laid off who were not tenured, and I think that really highlighted how important it is to have a strong and effective union to protect us from arbitrary layoffs from university leadership.”
UAOU will also work for better faculty teaching and student learning conditions. O’Keefe said there has been increasing pressure to have more students in their classes.
“We're very concerned about maintaining a high quality of instruction and being able to have classes where we can get to know our students and to be able to teach in a way that is effective learning for all the students,” O’Keefe said.
UAOU started talking to faculty in 2020 to determine how professors felt about forming a union. They found faculty were indicating strong support. UAOU reconfirmed the interest in forming a union and moved to hold an official vote in March 2024.
However, getting UAOU fully recognized has not been easy. O’Keefe said there have been many difficulties while working with the law firm the university hired to handle the process.
“We were very frustrated by the slowness and the delays from the law firm and the university,” O’Keefe said. “But in these past few weeks, we've seen a lot of forward movement once we were able to sit down and discuss some of the points of disagreement about who would be included and who would not be included in the union.”
Christoph Hanisch, a professor in the philosophy department, is a part of UAOU’s communications committee. The communications committee works to spread the news about UAOU and the upcoming vote by talking and meeting with faculty to answer questions.
“We know that faculty members have their questions and good questions, and we see it as part of our obligation to address those,” Hanisch said. “We want to represent all faculty and that cannot just be a kind of slogan. It really has to be followed through by showing that you take each faculty member’s worries and questions and objections seriously.”
According to Hanisch, all faculty will be under the collective bargaining agreement. Currently, faculty at the university is regulated by the faculty handbook. Hanisch said the problem UAOU sees with the current handbook is the faculty is unable to enforce it.
“We saw that during the pandemic those layoffs happened,” Hanisch said. “They were to some degree contrary to the Faculty Handbook, but there was no legal instrument for the faculty to go back to.”
Once the union is formed, those in it will have to pay a due. The amount of the due is not determined yet but will be once the union is formed. The due will be taken directly from the paycheck of the members.
UAOU has been working alongside the Faculty Senate. Both groups held a meeting together Dec. 9.
Sarah Wyatt, a professor who teaches environmental and plant biology and a member of Senate, said the elected body representing OU’s faculty is ready to work alongside the UAOU.
“I really believe in shared governance,” Wyatt said. “I've worked really hard on Senate for most of my career here, but there are things that the Senate doesn't have a say in. A union will give people hopefully a voice in that matter.”
According to Wyatt, Senate has done compensation reports to show a disparity in salaries at the university. Senate, however, does not have the ability to negotiate.
“We just bring it to their attention and say this is something that's concerning to us,” Wyatt said. “Whereas a union would have the ability to negotiate for increased salaries or benefits for that matter.”
Senate advocates for faculty at OU in ways UAOU will not be able to do, such as holding committees for discussing curriculum, educational policy and student affairs.
“The faculty on campus, regardless of which group we're in or both groups, all really care about the students, working with the students and doing the best we can for the students,” Wyatt said. “We're one faculty.”
According to O’Keefe, UAOU feels confident the union will be formed from the vote due to the strong support given by those they have talked to.
After the election, UAOU plans to continue working on bargains and negotiations with the university regarding working conditions and salary for faculty.
The union will associate with the American Association of University Professors. This group is a national organization with many chapters that work to uphold quality in higher education and academic freedom for universities. In addition, the union will hold an election to choose an officer at a later to-be-determined date.
“We want to hear from faculty about what their concerns are,” O Keefe said. “Every department is different right across the university. We want to make sure that we're hearing all the concerns and issues from from faculty in all departments, so what we end up pushing for and negotiating for reflects all faculty voices.”
