NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, June 1, 2004 - 3
.Lecturers, 'U' sign tentative labor agreement
Dy Alison Go
Daily Staff Reporter
After 10 months of twice-a-week
meetings, round-the-clock discussion
and continuous work, the year-old
Lecturers' Employee Organization
and the University signed a tentative
final agreement for a three-year con-
tract on Friday.
The union's first contract will be
put into place after June 16 pending
approval of the agreement by
majority vote of all LEO members.
Members of the two bargaining
teams met last week, signed the
agreement and shook hands at
the ceremony, an event that LEO's
chief negotiator Jon Curtiss called
a "historic moment."
"This (contract) is a model for
the whole country - a model of
collective bargaining," Curtiss said.
Advances made by LEO include
increased job security, summer health
benefits and raises in minimum
salaries at the Ann Arbor, Flint and
Dearborn campuses.
"We're very happy with this con-
tract," LEO President Bonnie Hal-
loran said. "Clearly there was
dramatic improvement and our
members are very happy."
For the most part, the terms of the
contract will be carried out starting
Fall 2004. Exceptions include the
implementation of summer benefits,
which is already being applied, and
the completion of some job security
articles, the execution of which is too
complicated to be ready in Septem-
ber, Halloran said.
While the two sides had already
settled the three biggest issues by
April 19, the last four articles of
the agreement were put into place
on May 21. These advances and
negotiations follow a one-day
walkout staged by LEO April 8.
Ballots were mailed to LEO
members on May 25 and will be
counted on June 16. Though ratifi-
cation will require a majority vote
on two campuses and a total majori-
ty vote among all members, Hallo-
ran "completely expects (the
agreement) to be ratified."
The three-year contract will cover
approximately 1,400 faculty mem-
bers from the three campuses.
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By Aymar Jean
Daily Staff Reporter
Following months of organizational
and legal challenges, the petition drive
to end race-conscious programs in
Michigan has again reiterated its inten-
tion to halt this year's campaign.
Yesterday, state Rep. Leon Drolet (R
- Clinton Twp.), who co-chairs the
campaign, announced that the Michi-
gan Civil Rights Initiative intends to
focus its efforts on getting its proposed
amendment to the state constitution on
the ballot for 2006 instead of this year.
"The intent now is to qualify for
the '06 ballot," Drolet told the
Associated Press.
His statements follow a recent rift in
MCRI's organization, where a number
of members left the formal campaign
over this very issue: whether the organ-
ization should temporarily halt the cur-
rent campaign, which strives to
eliminate the use of race, ethnicity and
gender in public education and
employment.
Drolet's decision to announce the
initiative's new focus resulted, in part,
from the illness of Ward Connerly,
who is the main proponent and finan-
cial backer of MCRI.
This is not the first time MCRI offi-
cials have made this claim. Former
treasurer Leonard Schwartz stated last
month that the campaign would be a
"waste of time and money" and
declared it "suspended." Around the
same time, Drolet announced it was
"dead in the water."
In the midst of the organizational
disunity, MCRI has faced consider-
able legal challenges. Months ago,
opposition groups - primarily
BAMN and Citizens for a United
Michigan - filed lawsuits against the
See MCRI, Page 9
Corrections:
A news article in last week's paper (Student reports glitch in Wolverine
Access to 'U', 5/24/04) should have read that student Jon Oberheide used a
non-standard Internet browser to access the student record database.
Please report any errors in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com
'2" --r S W O '
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