The Strike of 2006: Let's work this out…

This blog– well, at least the stuff I’ve had about the strike– has gotten a little too popular for me to just spout off at this delicate moment of twenty-four hours of talks. So I’ll save some of that for my “after the strike” post, which will hopefully be later today. Or at least I hope we’ll be settled by the end of today.

I will say this though: I applaud both the union and the administration for getting back to the table. I am very proud and happy that the union took the high ground here, and I’m hopeful that Fallon was right when he said in his WEMU interview yesterday that there was “plenty left to negotiate” with the administration’s “last and final offer.” And I am also cautiously optimistic that the union has been telling us all the truth since this stand-off began last week, that if we get back together, we can work this out in a day.

Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I’ll be in the office for a full day today. I don’t actually teach today, but I have LOTS to catch up on. And hey, who knows? I might not be able to be there tomorrow….

In the news about all this:

3 Replies to “The Strike of 2006: Let's work this out…”

  1. I, for one, am also glad that the faculty have taken the highroad on this and it shows me who is more concerned with the student’s needs/education. I hope that now that the union has afforded the opportunity to renegotiate, that both sides are able to come to an agreement they can both live with–and quickly. Here’s for crossing fingers and toes!

  2. “I am pleased that the faculty have agreed to return to the classroom so that the negotiation process may proceed,� said Karen Valvo, chair of the EMU Board of Regents. 

    As if the Board of Regents didn’t hold the reins, and hadn’t been the party that walked out early on negotiations in the first place. “Talk, don’t walk” ring a bell?

  3. Now that the faculty have taken the high road, it is important that they stay on the high road – it is all too easy to fall back on baser instincts. As long as we are fighting for a process (faculty input, for example), not a dollar figure, we maintain our position on that road. If we stray from that but a little, we lose in the long term.

    Respect is not negotiable – it is earned, not written into a contract. Right now, in my opinion, the administration needs to start earning our respect. And we the faculty, need to earn theirs.

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