Bargaining

Access the Current Collective Bargaining Agreement

Florida does not have legal statutes describing specific rights and responsibilities for faculty. Rather, the Florida Constitution grants public employees the right to bargain collectively to negotiate and maintain an employment contract that specifies employee rights and responsibilities and guides the employment practices of both labor and management.

As public employees, faculty have the constitutional right to organize and negotiate a legally binding employment contract or Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that extends beyond existing state and federal labor laws.

Right to work laws grant management the right to hire and fire employees at will, without requiring any cause for termination or layoff, granting wide latitude to management and few or no protections to members of the labor force. Practices that support academic freedom (such as tenure, promotion, intellectual property rights, and sabbaticals) and procedures designed to protect faculty from unreasonable or arbitrary threats to academic freedom (such as procedures for progressive discipline, grievance resolution, and non-reappointment, layoff, or other types of employment termination) exist only in the CBA.

Without the protections afforded by the CBA, academic freedom is easily threatened by the management right to terminate employees for any reason. Without a CBA, faculty may find that they have to choose between personal job security and the academic pursuit and dissemination of knowledge. Highly valued principles of academic freedom require protections for faculty. The CBA is the only legally binding protection that exists for faculty in Florida.

UFF values your participation in the collective bargaining process. We hope that you will share your thoughts with the UFF leadership and UFF bargaining team and continue to support these important activities through attendance at bargaining sessions and membership in UFF. Please see the Membership page for membership details and a membership form.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to attend meetings is requested to advise UWF by contacting the UWF ADA Office at Ext. 7469 at least 48 hours before the meeting.