2024-27 Collective Bargaining Agreement ratified, granting all faculty a series of raises and one-time bonus

Danette Heredia | Staff Writer

FIU’s Faculty Senate and Board of Trustees ratify the new BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement, ensuring raises for all faculty and a one-time $4,000 bonus – but this is only one of the improvements made to the 2024-2027 Bargaining Agreement.

BOT-UFF Collective Bargaining Agreement are the terms and conditions that Florida universities faculty are held to under their employment, covering policies involving salaries, benefits, evaluations, tenure, and more.

Renewed every 3 years, 2024-2027’s agreement was ratified on September 17^th and features significant changes. 

A series of raises over the course of three years to be set: 3.5% in 2024-25, 2% in 2025-26, and 1% in 2026-27 with one-time bonuses within the next 2 academic years still to be determined.

Minimum raises and minimum salaries have also been raised in the new CBA, notably with a 5% increase yearly until the agreed minimum for the academic year has been reached. 

Faculty now have more reliable travel support from FIU regarding business trips and conferences, developing a system for faster reimbursements or trips being paid for altogether by the university – compared to previous protocol where reimbursements were given months after.

Policy behind employee performance evaluations has been revised to use clearer language and the complete removal of the requirement of “proficiency in spoken English”, described as something to be judged during hiring instead of evaluation, according to the Summary of Proposed 2024-2027 CBA Changes. 

In June, FIU was awarded the title of Preeminent Research University and an additional $25 million in additional funding, of which is going to be funding the recent salary raises across FIU’s faculty. 

In addition to the Preeminent funding, FIU was also given $10 million in a one-time funding for increasing faculty retention and recruitment, of which directly connected to the bonuses faculty are receiving. 

“The preeminence dollars are dollars…to general operating expenses for the university and those dollars, in addition to being used to fund other important initiatives around the university, were used to fund these raises as well,” said Eric Scarffe, UFF-FIU President.