Prior to the unionization drive, Minnesota faculty members cooperated with the Board and Administration in efforts to update the tenure code. In the end, however, the faculty's input was ignored, as the Board sidestepped what it apparently believed was a weak faculty in its effort to pass tenure changes beyond what anyone had expected. They are objectives that must be fought for and, if won, protected against later erosion. If that was so, the faculty at the University of Minnesota would not suddenly be in need of a union to protect them from a Board of Regents that has decided to ignore important faculty concerns like economic security and job protection. Although our AAUP chapter has done a good job over recent years in terms of winning salary gains and other benefits, as well as in promoting a vision of educational excellence, the truth is that our chapter would be better positioned to bargain for the faculty if we had more members.
Strength lies in numbers.
We would suggest to you that this is not in your self-interest. The more members we have, the more power we possess to force the Administration to listen to us on a wide variety of issues pertaining to UD's academic life. We cannot afford to be without such power at this particular time in U.S. history, when universities are being pressured by politicians who know little about academic life to cut salaries, increase workloads, and downsize departments and faculties. The best way to get prepared for such attacks is to do so far in advance, not at the last minute. Such preparation includes supporting faculty unions and developing meaningful alliances with forces outside the academic world.