1. Faculty Fight Back: Building a Faculty Union at BGSU Amy Fry Libraries Fight Back! ALA 2011 Annual Conference 27 June 2011

2. Librarian rank# InstitutionsPercent Professorial (Assistant, Associate and Full Professor) 3327.7 Other ranks (Parallel or Librarian) with tenure2823.5 Other ranks without tenure1310.9 Non-faculty4537.8 Total119100 Librarians with faculty status at U.S. research libraries Source: Mary Bolin, “Librarian Status at US Research Universities: Extending the Typology.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 34.5 (2008): 416-424.

3. Governance at U.S. academic institutions Source: Rachel Applegate, “Who Benefits? Unionization and Academic Libraries and Librarians.” Library Quarterly 79.4 (2009): 443-463. TypePrivate Public Nonunionized Public UnionizedTotal ARL29471995 Doctoral non-ARL536924146 Masters27316579517 Baccalaureate3864719452 Associates61435198694 Total8027633391904

4. Ohio public universitiesCollective bargaining? Librarians as faculty? University of AkronXX Bowling Green State UniversityXX University of CincinnatiXX Cleveland State UniversityX Kent State UniversityX Miami UniversityX The Ohio State UniversityX Ohio University Shawnee State University University of ToledoXX Wright State UniversityX Youngstown State University Sources: AAUP, NCES, institutional websites, and the 2008-09 Ohio Universities Faculty Salary Survey (The Ohio State University, February 2009). Librarians as represented faculty at Ohio public universities

5. First BGSU Librarian Ethyl Blum with her staff in 1932. Source: BGSU Centennial Memories.

6. BGSU Unionization Timeline 1978Faculty consider collective bargaining and complete signature card campaign Jan. 1979Vote for collective bargaining fails 1992Faculty reconsider collective bargaining Feb. 1994Vote for collective bargaining fails Jun. 2008Faculty gather to discuss grievances; possibility of unionization again raised Jun. 2008 Faculty present then-provost Cheryl Baugher with petition Jul. 2008Faculty Senate and administration meet to discuss grievances Oct. 2008AAUP forum for faculty held on BGSU campus Dec. 2008Provost Baugher resigns Spring 2009BGSU-FA begins signature card campaign Apr. 2009Faculty Senate committee releases Faculty Welfare report showing BGSU lags behind in-state peer institutions in terms of salary, benefits, etc. Fall 2009BGSU-FA sponsors presentations on healthcare, finances and shared governance for faculty Jan. 2010Over half of eligible faculty have signed cards in support of representation under the BGSU-FA Oct. 2010Vote on collective bargaining passes Nov. 2010Volunteer Steering Committee formed; most colleges (including the library) represented. Bargaining research committees formed and begin research. Dec. 2010Board of Trustees significantly alters Academic Charter Feb. 2011Librarians meet with Steve Aby, faculty librarian at the unionized University of Akron, to discuss shared governance issues Feb. 2011BGSU-FA Constitution ratified by membership Mar. 2011SB5 passes Ohio House & Senate and is signed into law Mar. 2011BGSU-FA holds teach-in about SB5 May 2011Bargaining Council holds initial meeting Jun. 2011Bargaining Council passes first bargaining proposals Jun 15, 2011: Proposed first day of contract negotiations (rejected by administration)

7. BGSU signature card. Dr. Geoff Howes, then Vice President of the BGSU-FA, signing a card in 2009.

8. Vote for Unionization (October 2010) Vote was 391-293 in favor of unionization, with over 80% of eligible faculty voting.

9. Bargaining Research Subcommittees: Benefits Family (spousal accommodations, family/medical leave, flexible tenure clocks) Governance (academic freedom regarding curricular issues, new program development, graduate education) Grievance (discrimination, wrongful termination) Non-tenure-track faculty Salary Bargaining Council: Charge: to determine the professional preferences of the Full Members and formulate the draft bargaining proposals. Composition: The Bargaining Council consists of the voting members of the Executive Committee and elected representatives of the eight colleges. Each of these will have one representative on the Bargaining Council. Colleges with forty or more full members may have one additional representative for each forty full members.

10. Academic Charter Changes (December 2010) Example of changes made to the BGSU Academic Charter by the Board of Trustees, issued December 10, 2010. This is a page from Section IV.C (“Faculty Senate Authority Responsibilities and Functions”): “Policies and Standards Framing Authority of the Senate.”

11. Protest against Senate Bill 5 Columbus, Ohio, March 1, 2011 Photo by Sean Welton

12. Protest against Senate Bill 5 Delaware, Ohio, March 12, 2011 Photo by the Ohio AFL-CIO

13. SB5 Teach-In at BGSU (March 2011) Left: Flyer showing BGSU rally against SB5. Below: Ethnic Studies Professor Emily Lutensky speaking about recent anti-union legislation and labor protests in Wisconsin.

14. Librarian issues leading to unionization Furloughs (2009-2010): instituted without faculty input; affected library but not regular teaching faculty Elimination of 10-month contract option for librarians (2009) Start date for compensation changes for librarians moved from July (start of fiscal year/new contract year) to September (2009)

15. Embracing the Future, Together