Faculty union rejects admin offer to hire mediator

NYU’s contract faculty union rejected administrators’ push to hire a third-party to mediate its negotiation sessions, claiming that the university is stalling on at least 14 proposals related to faculty wages, academic freedom and data privacy. 

NYU spokesperson John Beckman said on Wednesday that in an effort to “spur progress” between administrators and Contract Faculty United, the university has offered to pay for the union’s portion of the hiring costs. The update came two weeks after administrators’ initial suggestion to hire a mediator, which CFU said it was “carefully considering.” In his most recent statement, Beckman said that the union has yet to make substantial adjustments to its proposals since bargaining began in November last year.

CFU representatives declined the offer in a formal letter to NYU lawyers on Thursday morning. They said that a mediator isn’t necessary only one year into the bargaining process, adding that they disagree with the university’s characterization of their responses as abnormal or delayed.

“The only articles on which we did not counter were those which either the administration has not yet responded to or those for which we were still awaiting information in order to bargain,” the CFU letter said. “We are disappointed at the administration’s continued slowness in responding to our requests for information.”

CFU’s proposals are heavily focused on guaranteed job security, support for international faculty and improved health care benefits. Earlier this month, the union staged its first demonstration of the semester to demand administrators sponsor H-1B visas and green cards for faculty amid the Trump administration’s attack on immigration. 

Along with immigration, CFU has doubled down on its salary proposals in recent months. In August, the union proposed a university policy that would standardize salaries for long-term and new faculty members and ensure that women and non-binary faculty members are paid as much as men. Since the policy was proposed, the parties have met four times and NYU has yet to respond with a counterproposal.

“NYU has already offered our unionized contract faculty some of the highest-paid minimum salaries among their peers nationwide,” Beckman said. “Yet frustratingly, as institutions of higher education face long-term financial risks, the union’s proposal on compensation remains extraordinarily high.”

In an interview with WSN, CFU representative Jacob Remes said that NYU has boasted its faculty salaries in the past, but has not responded to questions about which “peers” it references. 

The union had already planned to reject the university’s offer and wasn’t concerned about funding for the mediator, according to Remes. He said that the larger issue is that NYU has not made substantive strides in responding to CFU’s proposals, something that cannot be resolved with a mediator. The union plans to continue its bargaining as usual, with its 18th session taking place on Friday, Oct. 31.

“It’s hard for me to say if admin will keep pushing for a mediator,” Remes said. “I only hope that they realize that a mediator won’t help move policies out faster — that is their job.”

Contact Natalie Deoragh at ndeoragh@nyunews.com.

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