Impact of a Collective Bargaining Contract

Some five hundred institutions of higher education in the United States currently have unionized faculties. Driving forces for collective bargaining include the impact of inflation on salaries, erosion of faculty control of institutions, desire for additional security in a time of declining enrollments and movement toward collective bargaining in other segments of education. Discussed are the particular reasons for development of a faculty collective bargaining posture at the University of Massachusetts, details of the negotiation process and the resulting contract, early trends in implementation, and some of the initial impacts of faculty unionization. Some of the major impacts within the first year of implementation of faculty collective bargaining at the University of Massachusetts are salary leveling and capping, substantive shifts in the governance of the institution, loss of flexibility, and a strong movement from collegial relationships to adversary procedures.