The faculty union and FIU administration reach a compromise on raises after a state funding shortfall forces renegotiation of collective bargaining terms.
Danette Heredia | Staff Writer
The FIU administration approved the UFF’s proposal on Wednesday, September 3rd, adjusting faculty salary raises after the university received reduced preeminent funding from the state.
On July 29th, UFF received news from the administration that FIU does not have enough new recurring dollars from state legislation to fulfill the agreed-upon salary rates from the previous year.
A year ago, the BOT and Faculty Senate ratified the UFF-FIU Collective Bargaining Agreement, agreeing to the following series of raises that would be awarded over the course of three fiscal years:
A) 2024-2025. 3.5% or $3,500, whichever is greater.
B) 2025-2026. 2% or $2,000, whichever is greater.
C) 2026-2027. 1% or $1,000, whichever is greater.
According to an email sent out by the UFF, state senators are largely responsible for canceling new recurring dollars to all preeminent universities, cutting from the $25 million out of FIU’s award (although no documents or articles were found to support this claim).
Since FIU is receiving $15 million in new recurring dollars instead of the anticipated $25 million, the administration decided these new dollars would be funneled into other expected expenses, though none were identified.
With changes in policy and how Florida is approaching education, many educators are finding it more difficult to keep up.
“They are outraged. Our work is getting harder, not easier. We’re getting more and more paperwork that we have to submit, more items that we have to comply with. So it’s not getting easier to teach, and people were counting on those raises,” said UFF-FIU President Tania Lopez.
In the event of insufficient funding, FIU administration would invoke the Sufficient Funds Clause, which stipulates that raises are contingent on the availability of new recurring funds. If those funds are lacking, bargaining would reopen for both parties to negotiate new terms.
Though there were other salary clauses in the 2024-2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement regarding topics like minimum salaries and summer research awards, these were not requested to be open for negotiation and remain as agreed.
After numerous meetings and four different offers, administration agreed with Wednesday’s proposal:
- A raise of 1.5% or $1,500 for 9 month faculty (adjusted to $2,007.70 for 12-month faculty), whichever is greater.
- A one-time merit bonus based on last year’s annual evaluation scores of $1,000 (Satisfactory or Good), $1,500 (Very Good), or $2,000 (Outstanding).
- A recommitment by the administration to the retention and merit raises previously negotiated for 2026-2027
“We have spent the last several weeks digging into FIU’s budget to demonstrate to administrators that they can, in fact, free up new recurring dollars to pay for faculty salary raises. And in fact, the administration conceded this point last week,” reads the email sent out by the UFF-FIU Committee.
FIU continues to climb the ranks, winning numerous awards and recognitions for its performance, yet the educators behind the award-winning performances don’t feel like a priority to the university.
“We can close all the buildings, and we can still teach because you still have excellent faculty that can teach those classes, so you need to be prioritizing faculty the same way you prioritize the electric bill. We cannot be the last on the list,” says UFF-FIU President Tania Lopez.
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