In late 2014, Miami University professors started gathering to discuss efforts for forming a faculty union. Now, in 2023, some of those same professors will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not to officially form that union.
The collective bargaining unit, now known as the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM) received majority facility support in July of last year.
Earlier this month, Ohio's State Employment Relations Board (SERB) released its decision on who would be able to vote and join the union. The board determined that only tenured and tenure-track professors, along with longer-term contract faculty, would be able to vote and join the union.
FAM organizers wanted to include all full-time faculty in the vote, but the decision excludes adjunct and assistant professors, librarians and hybrid faculty staff positions from participating. On March 17, librarians filed a petition to form their own union as part of FAM, and are awaiting a decision from the employment relations board.
Cathy Wagner, an English professor and organizer, says it's disappointing that currently, not all faculty will be able to vote. But she's still confident the staff who can vote will enthusiastically support the creation of a union.
RELATED: Miami faculty and administration in fight over union lines
"It's still a win and it's really historic actually because we're going to have a union at Miami University," Wagner told WVXU. "This is not something that five years ago I think I would have seen coming down the pike. I'm really proud of my colleagues for stepping up and joining the organizing and want to transform their workplace and understanding that they have the power to do that."
While SERB's decision didn't include all faculty like FAM had requested, those excluded staff members still count this week's news as a win and a step in the right direction.
Miami University special collections librarian Rachel Makarowski says although many universities around Ohio give their full-time librarians faculty status, Miami does not, which makes the board's decision less surprising.
Still, Makarowski thinks the potential creation of a union will encourage more organizing amongst the rest of the university's employees. And if faculty approve of the union in the coming weeks, FAM will be able to accelerate that process for the rest of Miami's staff.
"They'll also be able to help kind of guide us through this bargaining process when it's our turn," Marakowski said. "They'll have already been through it."
Wagner says all eligible faculty will be mailed ballots and will have approximately two weeks to return them. While an official date for the vote has not been set, Wagner expects the election to happen before the end of the academic year in April or May.
