By: Alvin Wilson 
Staff Writer

Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers (WOUFT) was offered a chance to finally get what they’ve been asking for: a 10 percent pay increase for non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty over the biennium.

But after examining President Rex Fuller’s letter to staff and students, Dr. Mark Perlman, philosophy professor and President of WOUFT, was left unsatisfied.

“His letter makes it sound like he’s being Santa Claus with big fat raises and I think it’s awfully dishonest for him to make it seem like that,” said Perlman. “But what he didn’t put in the letter that he sent to everybody, including all of the students, was what they cut to do that.”

Fuller’s letter included information about the national averages for raises among university staff. According to Inside Higher Ed’s website, average annual raises nationwide in 2014-15 ranged from 1.0 to 2.4 percent.

In comparison, WOU’s proposed salary increases range from seven to 15 percent.

“Of course seven to 15 percent looks like a lot, and if we were already at the average salary we would be happy to get the average raise nationwide,” said Perlman. “But we’re so far below the average that even if we agree to this package we’ll still be significantly behind.”

In earlier negotiations both parties agreed that the cost of raising NTT staff salaries by 10 percent would be $210,000. It was recently discovered, however, that the actual cost would be $126,000.

How the university was able to reduce the cost by 40 percent is still unknown to WOUFT, according to Perlman.
To pay for the $126,000, the university’s proposal would reduce summer term pay for instructors and reduce course reassignments, which give professors a small break to do research.

“If you have a research project, you can apply for one of these course reassignments and get one course off on your teaching load to do that research,” Perlman said. “10 years ago we fought to get those things in the contract, and [Fuller] wants to eliminate them — or at least the ones that cost money.”

The proposal would have reduced the summer term pay for professors from 20 percent of their normal salary to 19 percent.

“If we were getting, per credit, the same amount we get for the normal academic year, it should be 25 percent,” Perlman said. “So, it’s already only 20 percent and he wants to cut it.”

Another reason WOUFT didn’t accept the proposal is that they didn’t have enough time to meet and discuss it. The offer came with a deadline, which Perlman said wasn’t long enough.

“I’ve been bargaining since ‘98, and nobody’s ever given us expiration dates,” said Perlman. “They say on Wednesday, ‘We want our answer on Monday.’ Well, we didn’t have time to have the team meet.”

Perlman believes that the university can pay for the $126,000 if they account for sabbatical, retirement, and healthcare cost reductions.

“If you go on sabbatical you get paid less than your normal pay,” Perlman said. “Personally, I’m on sabbatical for the next three springs, and I get paid 60 percent of my normal pay. They’re saving over $5,000 on me this spring, and over $5,000 on me next year. So that $210,000 didn’t include the fact that for me, personally, they’re saving $10,000.”

“There’s also the issue of what they call Other Personnel Expenses, or OPE, which is things like taxes and healthcare payments,” continued Perlman.

According to Perlman, the most expensive health plan is PEBB Statewide, Kaiser Permanente is less expensive, and there are even cheaper options than that.

“If I pick the cheap plan, then [the university] will save money,” Perlman said. “So, we said, ‘How many people are picking the least expensive plan, and how much money are you saving?’ They won’t say.”

Perlman said that with retirements, sabbaticals, and healthcare savings, among various other savings, there should be enough to cover the cost of raising NTT staff salaries by 10 percent. They already found an extra $84,000 in the budget and Perlman thinks there’s more.

“Our numbers guys have done the calculations on this, and we think that there’s a lot more than they’re saying,” Perlman explained. “We think, if they do the math a little more robustly, they will find that there’s way more than the $84,000.”

Before WOUFT agrees to any proposals, Perlman said they want to know exactly how much the university will save when retirements, sabbaticals, and healthcare savings are accounted for.

“They promised us that information and haven’t given it to us,” he said. “Every day that they stall, the faculty [is] more angry that we’re not finished.”