Dear Colleagues,

the Faculty Federation is the sole negotiator for all members of the faculty, librarian and professional technician bargaining unit, including those who are not dues-paying members of the Federation.

This is to inform you that the ratification ballot for the Comprehensive MOA describing the additional terms and changes to be included in the Successor Contractual Bargaining Agreement closed at 11:59 pm Friday, March 6, 2026. This morning the Federation Office Manager Stacey Alzaibak, with Sharon Allen, Educational Services Union Grievance Officer, overseeing, downloaded the results from the Qualtics poll. The outcome was as follows:

A total of 200 votes were cast, of these 194 (97.0%) were to ACCEPT the proposal and 6 (3.0%) were to REJECT the proposal. Thus, the Agreement as presented to the members is approved.

I have informed Chancellor Fuller and the Administration’s Negotiating Team of this outcome.

Thank you everyone who took the time to attend the special meeting last week to review the document and to vote on the question.  I also want to acknowledge the efforts of the Federation’s negotiating team, without whom the Union would not have reached an agreement: Joshua Botvin, Eric Casero, Megan Dawe, Lorraine Heffernan, Dayalan Kasilingam, Eric Larson, Viviane Saleh-Hanna, Kristen Sethares, Cathy Urbano and Amy Vaughan-Thomas, as well as the Federation’s AFT field representative and lead negotiator from AFT-Massachusetts, Mike Regan.

With the MOA ratified, the following changes will become part of the 2024-2027 CBA.   While it will take some time for all of the new language to be incorporated into a final document, the Federation will begin working with the Administration to implement the agreed upon changes as quickly as possible, including discussions on how certain items might be applied retroactively.

These additions and changes will bring additional clarity to the working conditions of the members of the Faculty Federation bargaining unit. In summary;

• salary increases of 3.5% effective January 2025, 2.25% effective July 2025, 2.25% effective January 2026, 2.25% effective July 2026, and 2.25% effective January 2027 to all full-time members of the bargaining unit
• increases to the PTL stipend minima identical to the increases received by full-time members
• increases the minimum salary for each rank of full-time members of the bargaining unit
• increases the time available for bereavement leave and creates personal time leave for full-time faculty
• addresses how FARs should be handled for faculty who have unplanned, extended leave from teaching
• requires that HR notify people that they have met the time-in-rank to apply for promotion or do PMYR
• creates PMYR for Professional Technician I, allowing them to be eligible to receive the $2000 increase to their base salary
• addressed some of the concerns expressed by the Librarians
• codifies the requirements for promotion to Commonwealth Professor
• codifies the process for reappointment in the ranks of teaching and clinical faculty
• reduces the time-in-rank needed for teaching faculty to apply for promotion to Associate Teaching Professor
• changes to the grievance process that we hope will improve the timeliness of addressing these

Regarding the salary increases, the now ratified CBA will be forwarded to the UMass President’s Office, then to the Governor’s Office and finally to the State House where it will included in a supplemental funding bill that the Faculty Federation is aware will be voted on before the end of March (and before the legislature is consumed by the 2027 fiscal year budget).  Once the funds are made available to the campus, HR will implement the salary increases followed by the payment of retroactive salary to those owed it.  The Faculty Federation has requested that HR begin making the necessary calculations so that members can receive their well deserved salary increases as quickly as possible.

In Solidarity!