Arbor for full-time lecturers is 
$34,500, $28,300 in Dearborn 
and $27,300 in Flint. LEO’s 
bargaining 
platform 
calls 

for an increase in minimum 
salaries 
and 
measures 
to 

address the pay gap between 
the three campuses.

“U of M is so well off that, 

unlike 
many 
employers, 

they have seldom demanded 
concessions 
— 
i.e., 
lower 

wages 
or 
benefits 
— 
in 

bargaining,” Robinson said. 
“But neither have they been 
eager to pay us better, despite 
our low rate of pay relative to 
K-12 teachers and community 
college faculty.”

Data 
from 
the 
National 

Education Association shows 
that the average salary for 
a 
Michigan 
public 
school 

teacher was $61,560 in 2012.

University spokesman Rick 

Fitzgerald said the University 
and LEO have been working 
to reach an agreement on a 
large number of the proposed 
changes.

“The 
first 
test 
of 
any 

contract is that both sides 
see it as a fair and reasonable 
agreement,” Fitzgerald said. 
“The 
University’s 
overall 

objectives 
are 
to 
have 
a 

contract that is economically 
fair to the lecturers and 
fiscally responsible for the 
University, does not impinge 
on the academic mission of 
the university, and allows 
the 
university 
to 
recruit 

and retain the best possible 
educators for this portion of 
our instructional faculty.”

Fitzgerald 
said 
the 

bargaining 
process 
has 

involved “many hours and 
levels of internal consultation” 
with 
lecturers 
and 
other 

prominent voices across the 

three 
campuses, 
including 

University Human Resources 
and the provosts.

“LEO 
has 
put 
a 
large 

number of proposals on the 
bargaining table this year and 
we are working through those 
proposals 
systematically,” 

Fitzgerald said.

Enhanced 
job 
security 

for entry-level lecturers is 
another LEO’s demand. Of 
the four types of lecturers, 
those designated as Lecturers 
I or Lecturers II primarily 
teach, while Lecturers III 
and Lecturers IV additionally 
perform 
administrative 

duties. Lecturers I tend to be 
the most vulnerable, as they 
have one-semester or one-
year contracts and are paid 
per class. Lecturer II, III or 
IV typically have multi-year 
contracts, and Lecturers III 
and IV are usually paid higher 
than the minimum.

LEO was able to raise the 

minimum 
salary 
when 

they 
negotiated 
their 

first agreement with the 
University 14 years ago, 
and Lecturer I salary has 
increased by 11 percent 
since 
then. 
However, 

Robinson said in the time 
since that deal was struck, 
those gains have eroded 
as prices in 2018 are 34 
percent higher than the 
prices in 2003 due to 
inflation.

“That tells me that LEO 

in those years did not build 
enough power to force the 
admin to do something 
they did not want to do,” 
Robinson said. “And in the 
absence of that power, the 
admin was content to see 
the real income of their 
Lecs go down. This time 
around, 
we’re 
building 

the power to ensure that 
we not only make up the 
ground lost.”

LEO 
has 
amassed 

support for its bargaining 
efforts 
from 
allies, 

using 
the 
hashtag 

#RespectTheLecs.

Central 
Student 

Government 
representative 

Frank 
Guzman, 
an 
LSA 

sophomore, made remarks to 
administration at a meeting on 
Jan. 26, reading aloud a CSG 
resolution that unanimously 
passed in support of LEO’s 
efforts. Guzman said he felt 
compelled to do so because he 
attended a school district in 
California where the teachers 
were “considerably underpaid 
in comparison to surrounding 
cities.”

“I came to the University 

of Michigan to find the same 
issues within the University,” 
Guzman said. “The status 
of the lecturers’ contract is 
definitely of concern to the 

entire student body. These 
are our educators and paying 
them higher wages is a tribute 
to the respect they deserve for 
helping us become the best 
versions of ourselves. Our 
lecturers push us and teach 
and wherever we go we will 
have a part of them with us.”

Robinson 
said 
he 
feels 

“cautiously optimistic” LEO 
and the university will meet 
the bargaining deadline.

“In short, we’re demanding 

big changes,” he said. “But 
over the last 35 years of 
corporatization, U of M — 
and public higher ed more 
generally — has drifted a long 
way from where it ought to 
be, in a number of respects. 
We can’t get back on track 
... without a major course 
correction.”

2 — Tuesday, February 13, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily

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We can’t get 
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