PROFESSIONAL INST RUCTORS ORGANIZATION
OCTOBER 7, 2010
WELCOME BACK, PART TIME FACULTY
And welcome to WMU, if you are teaching
for the first time. We are the PIO, the
Professional Instructors Organization-AFT.
We represent all part time faculty
INSIDE:
PIO Dues
Agency Fees
The Difference
Payroll Deduction
Noncompliance
Notice
members in negotiating their wages
and the terms and conditions of
their employment. Last year, twothirds to three-fourths of all part
timers were PIO members. We hope
to exceed that level of participation. You will
find the information you need to become a
member on the pages that follow. Even if you
don't want to become a member, it's urgent
that you fill out the form on page 3, to avoid a
nasty surprise in your last paycheck.
Contract compliance. We have a
them. Of course, if you ever feel you are being
mistreated, tell us about it.
The PIO Council. The Council runs the
day-to-day affairs of the PIO. It meets
several times a month, and the minutes
of its meetings are available for you to
read. The nine members of the Council are
the President, Karl Schrock (music), the
Vice President and chair of the stewards
committee, Steve Cartwright (library and
history), the Secretary-Treasurer, Arthur
Falk (philosophy), the chair of the Elections
new contract with many novel features.
Familiarize yourself with it (on the PIO
Committee, Jeff Abshear (Art), the chair
of the Communications Committee,
website http:/ /mi.aft.org/pio/), and inform us
of any problems you experience. A contract
is only as good as its enforcement, and you
are on the first line of enforcement. If an
administrator gives you an interpretation of
the contract which sounds "funny to your ear,
a little bit jumbled and jivey," check with us.
Michael LoPresto (English), the chair of
the Bargaining Committee, Shanda Blue
Easterday, the acting chair of the Finance
Committee and chair of the Committee on
Policy and Political Action and Education,
Tom Kostrzewa (Haenicke Institute and
Honors College), the chair of the special
committee to prepare constitutional
amendments and a steward representative,
Robert Humiston (music), and the chair
of the special committee on the annual
Send email to piooffice@aftmichigan.org or
to any PIO Council member listed here.
Breaking the ice. New part time faculty
sometimes have difficulty getting to know
colleagues and staff in their departments. To
ensure that you have a good experience, we
recommend that you take steps to initiate
contact and communication. Ask your chair
to introduce you formally and in person to
·•·
the clerical personnel you will be dealing with
and to as many faculty members as is feasible.
The next time you see them, for instance
when passing in the hallways, you can greet
survey and a steward representative,
D. Terry Williams (Theatre). The PIO also
employs an interim organizer, Arthur Falk. A
permanent organizer will be hired in January.
Please feel free to contact any of these Council
729 Academy, Kalamazoo Ml49007 • 269-344-1288 • piooffice@AFTMichigan.org
gNegotiator
PROICSSIONAL INS I RUCTORS ORGANIZATION
,
article 19.3 of the contract.
members and bring your concerns to their attention.
Fall membership meeting. A meeting for all PIO
members is scheduled for Sunday, November 7, in
room 211 of Bernhard Center, from 4 to 5. At this
A few faculty who negotiated pay above the minimum
find that extra pay included in the first component,
"base salary." When it is included, we believe you have a
meeting members will tell the officers how they want
their dues spent. A 2010-2011 budget for the PIO will
be presented for the members' approval. Amendments
commitment that this extra will be part of your pay in
future terms. But when it is included in "miscellaneous;'
there is no such commitment, and you will have to
to the PIO constitution will be vetted concerning the
internal auditing process. There will be a discussion
of professional liability insurance, and the members
present will be polled on the desirability of purchasing
this for members. Other money matters will be
discussed.
"Miscellaneous Payment:' Some returning faculty
may have noticed in your appointment letter that your
pay was divided into at least three components with
the last one being described as "where applicable, a
continuing appointment increase and/or miscellaneous
renegotiate it each term.
Some faculty members find that this semester they are
making less than they made last year. Often what has
happened is that last year the faculty members made
more than this year's minimum, but their supervisors
treated that extra as not guaranteed for future years and
withdrew it or lessened it this year. If you have evidence
that it was guaranteed to you for future years, let us
know and we will work on your behalf to get it restored.
For example, it may have been a department policy
that a higher than minimum rate be paid for part time
supplemental amount." The salaries of those who
received both the increase and the supplemental were
divided into four components, and the fourth was
the miscellaneous payment. This is the line where
individually negotiated pay above the minimum was
recorded. You have the right to approach your chair and
negotiate more than base pay for yourself, according to
classes.
In any case, you are perfectly within your rights to ask
for more than the minimum. There is a very wide range
of pay per credit hour among part time faculty, and we
are exploring ways to put the data we have on that to
use for those of you who wish to negotiate higher than ,
minimum pay for yourselves.
Notice Of Noncompliance from the PIO to part time
faculty who failed to return an authorization for
payroll deduction of union dues or agency fee
Many of you have filled out the form below or its
equivalent online, becoming or remaining a member of
the PIO. We thank you for that. This notice is not to you,
but to the others of you who, for one reason or otherblamelessly-have not yet done so. See our apologies
below.
As you know from your letter of appointment, you
will be paying dues as a member of the PIO (1.85% of
PIO applicable salary), or you will pay an agency fee
deadlines: You should complete and return to the PIO
the following Authorization for Payroll Deduction of
Union Dues or Agency Fee "no later than thirty-one
calendar days after the effective date of appointment"
(contract article 4.l.b). The effective date of
appointment is in your letter of appointment from
WMU. For most employees, it is August 23. Therefore,
September 23 is the latest date to comply.
To those of you who have not complied, this is your
for services rendered to you by the PIO (1.67% of PIO
applicable salary). You won't pay both, but you will pay
one or the other as a condition of your employment.
The WMU-PIO contract specifies the following
notice of noncompliance. If you do not comply, the PIO
will report your noncompliance to WMU sometime in
the last week of October or the first week of November
(article 4.l.e). WMU then will notify you that the
729 Academy, Kalamazoo Ml49007 • 269-344-1288 • piooffice@AFTMichigan.org
2
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agency fee will be deducted from your paycheck in one
lump sum.
We apologize for the abruptness of this notice,
especially to those for whom this newsletter is the first
contact you have had with the PIO. We certainly don't
want to alienate you on your first contact with us! We
want to encourage you to become a member and friend
of the union. (See the reasons on the last page.) But,
in partial excuse of our rudeness, this newsletter goes
to the printer fewer than 48 hours after WMU told us
who we are representing. The contract puts deadline
obligations on the PIO itself concerning notices of
noncompliance. It pains us deeply to realize we're giving
offence. Please, please accept our apologies.
Authorization for Payroll Deduction of Union Dues or Agency Fee for Services
Professional Instructors Organization, AFT-Michigan
By checking the option, "I wish to be a member of PIO;'
and mailing this· card, you signify that you want to be (or
remain) a member of PIO, and authorize the automatic
deduction of your membership dues from your paycheck
each pay period.
By checking the option, "I do not wish to be a member
of PJO;' and mailing this card, you authorize the
automatic deduction of the non-member agency fee for
services from your paycheck each pay period.
If you do not return this completed authorization
form, or a check for your total dues or agency fee to
PIO by the middle of the first month of the semester, by
default you will be categorized as a non-member and
assessed the agency fee for services in your paycheck in
the remaining pay periods.
You can become a member of PIO and enjoy the
privileges of membership at any time by returning a
new card to PIO. Fees or dues paid to the PIO may not
be deductible for federal income tax purposes; however,
under limited circumstances, they may qualify as a
business expense, and may be deductible.
To find your Employee Number, log into
gowmu.wmich.edu, using your Bronco Net ID.
In "My Self Service" hold the cursor over "User
Information Lookup." The shorter number that appears
is your Employee Number. Or ask for it when you get a
Bronco Net ID or photo identification card.
Mail to: PIO by campus mail (mail stop 5495) or by US
mail, 729 Academy, Kalamazoo MI 49007-4671.
I hereby authorize Western Michigan University to deduct from my salary a sum equal to the constitutional
dues of the PIO or the agency fee for the services provided by the PIO. The authorization shall remain in effect
until further notice in writing to Western Michigan University and PIO.
[
I wish to be a member of PIO
0
I do not wish to be a member of PIO
Signature .......===~----~....,..,-----------,....-- Date of signing - - - - ---=:.__-=
Name ----------=~-----------=-_, Employee Number -~-- _....,__ _ _
Home Address
Place/Department of Employment
--==,:==:=:--- - - - -- - -
Email address - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -----..
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_ Position --------~
!?Negotiator
PROFESSIONAL INSTRUC I ORS ORGANI//\l i ON
Questions about PIO dues Answered
Q
A
First, why the difference between 1.85% dues and
1.67% agency fee?
No one pays both, but every part timer must pay one or
the other. That's in the WMU -PIO agreement, and your
letter of appointment from WMU mentioned it. The agency
fee is for those who don't wish to be members of the PIO.
Law forbids requiring anyone to join a union, but employees
may be required to pay for the services they receive from
the PIO's bargaining and administering the contract that
governs their employment. The 1.67% agency fee covers
those costs. Law also requires us to say what activities the fee
covers, how it was calculated, and how anyone may dispute
the calculation. You can find all thatby visiting the PIO
website, http:/ /mi.aft.org/pio/. Click on "legal notice."
What do you buy as a PIO member with the extra
0.0018 over and above the agency fee?
Q
First of all, you buy the lobbying for higher education
and for bringing the teacher's perspective to bear on
all legislation affecting teachers. The national AFT and the
AFT-Michigan do the lobbying. Every member of the PIO is
a member of the AFT and AFT-Michigan, and some of the
dues money goes to these organizations. The nonmember
also pays money to them, but not the portion covering
lobbying.
A
Secondly, you buy participation in your local, the PIO.
Members will recall receiving by mail a ballot to elect the
officers, a ballot to ratify the constitution, and by email a
questionnaire on their priorities for bargaining a contract.
Most members responded; that shows a high rate of
participation in our union's affairs. Of course, all are invited
to attend the PIO's meetings, such as the one that ratified
the contract and the one coming up on November 7, when
members will be asked to tell the officers how they want
their dues spent. Non-members don't have any of that power
to affect the union that negotiates and defends their wages
and rights in the workplace.
Moreover, a larger membership makes your union more
powerful in representing your interests. Numbers are strength,
and the administration appreciates strength and weakness,
and responds accordingly. In a word, you buy clout.
Because everyone must pay dues or an agency fee, the
difference between them is the real cost of membership and
the good things that come with it. It's 0.0018 of your pay.
Does that come to as much as $15 this semester for you? If
we've not convinced you to spend a small sum this term on
becoming a member or renewing your membership, send ,
your query to piooffice@aftmichigan.org, and we'll answer
candidly. If you'd like to talk to someone, call President Karl
Schrock at 269-349-8559, or Vice President Steve Cartwright
weekdays at 269-387-5176.
729 Academy, Kalamazoo Ml49007 • 269-344-1288 • piooffice@AFTMichigan.org
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