Chatham University President Rhonda Phillips announced on Feb. 16 that the University has decided not to voluntarily recognize Chatham Faculty United, the faculty’s unionization effort, as a collective bargaining unit.

Chatham Faculty United sent a letter to President Phillips and the Board of Trustees requesting voluntary recognition as a union within an 8-day window that ended Feb. 14.

With voluntary recognition refused, the usual next step for unionization efforts is to petition the local National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office to hold a representation election among the faculty. Should a majority vote in favor of the unionization effort, the NLRB will certify Chatham Faculty United as the faculty’s representative to negotiate with the University. Chatham would then be required to negotiate a contract in good faith.

In the email to faculty, President Phillips explained the University’s decision. An email was forwarded to students minutes later.

“While Chatham fully respects the rights to collective bargaining under the law, the university must also pursue the best interests of the entire university community in all actions we take,” President Phillips said in the email. “This is why Chatham will not respond to any demands for union recognition without first seeking a fair hearing before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on the appropriateness of the requested bargaining unit.”

President Phillips elaborated that the University’s position is that “Chatham’s full-time and regular part-time faculty are categorized as managerial employees under the law because of their role in shared governance and, therefore, are not eligible for collective bargaining representation.”

The unionization effort started following decisions that affected the faculty after the University-wide reorganization began in June. So far, the University has changed health care and retirement benefits and eliminated free bus passes for faculty.

According to the Chatham Faculty United website, the group wants faculty members to be involved in the decision-making process for the University.

Chatham Faculty United gained traction following a card signing kickoff event on Jan. 25. More than 75% of the faculty have signed cards, demonstrating that more than the required 30% of the faculty are interested in forming a union. This allowed the union to move forward and request voluntary recognition by the University’s administration.

Representatives from Chatham Faculty United did not provide a comment on the developments prior to publication.

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