United Faculty of Florida

This is the off-campus site of the University of South Florida's Chapter of the United Faculty of Florida. The USF Chapter of the UFF consists of the UFF members at the four campuses of USF. The Chapter elects a Council to represent the USF faculty members in negotiating with the university and at the biannual UFF Senate. The Chapter also assists faculty when filing grievances, and in dealing with job-related matters. The Chapter also assists faculty when filing grievances, and in dealing with job-related matters.

For more information, visit the on-campus page. In particular, to join, go to the Join UFF page, download and fill in the membership form, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.
The Chapter is part of the United Faculty of Florida.
The UFF is a local of the Florida Educational Association.
The FEA is the merged Florida affiliate of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers (which in turn is a member of the AFL-CIO. The UFF is AFT Local 7463).

But ultimately, the Chapter is the UFF membership at USF. Our on-campus mailing address is United Faculty of Florida, 30238 USF Holly Dr., University of South Florida, Tampa FL 33620, although the university office is in NEC223. Our phone number is (813) 974-2428, while our fax number is (813) 974-7081. You can send us an e-mail message by clicking here.

News

JOIN TODAY

To join the movement, go to the Join UFF page, fill in the membership form, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.

Ratification of MOU

The on-line ratification vote on the Memorandum of Understanding on sabbaticals and awards is being held on Sept. 7 - 9. THE BARGAINING COMMITTEE STRONGLY RECOMMENDS VOTING IN FAVOR OF RATIFYING THIS MOU. You can also ask questions at a designated anonymous Q&A site. All members of the Bargaining Unit should receive a notice (on electric pink paper) with instructions and an individual code to use; any member of the unit who did not receive this pink notice should contact us.

Welcome New USF System Faculty

New USF System faculty (and UFF members) are invited to the UFF USF Chapter New Faculty Reception on September 22 (Wednesday) from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Embassy Suites Hotel on USF-Tampa campus at the corner of Fowler Ave. & Spector Blvd. For more information, see the reception flier.

Grievance Action

On March 8, 2010, the Public Employees Relations Commission found that in violating a prior settlement of a grievance, the University of South Florida Administration had violated the law. The Final Order directed that the Administration cease and desist from "...interfering with, restraining, or coercing public employees in the exercise of any rights guaranteeed them..." by law.

Bargaining

Bargaining proposals and news are posted at this site. In particular, the Impasse meeting scheduled for August 26 and 27 has been indefinitely postponed.

Legislative Action

Legislative action proposed by the UFF-USF Chapter.

Meetings

This fall, we will meet on alternate Fridays, at noon, in NES 104 on USF-Tampa (unless otherwise announced in the UFF Biweekly). The dates of the meetings are September 10 & 24, October 8 & 22, November 5 & 19, and December 3. All employees are invited and encouraged to join us for sandwiches and soda pop. Come and join the movement.

The UFF Biweekly

Off-campus, we maintain links to the UFF Biweekly, which is broadcast from off-campus. The UFF Biweekly is broadcast to the entire bargaining unit every other Thursday before the non-payday Friday Chapter Meeting; if you are a member of the faculty, a member of the bargaining unit, and you are not receiving the biweekly, please let us know. Here are issues of the UFF Biweekly:

Membership

The ultimate source of a union is the membership of the employees it represents, which is why ALL members of the bargaining unit -- faculty and university professionals -- should join the union. We are launching a new membership initiative: anyone interested in helping grow the union is invited to contact Sherman Dorn. In addition, last fall, the United Faculty of Florida fell in line with the rest of the Florida Education Assocation and instituted the following policy on grievances:

UFF will not provide grievance representation to faculty who were not dues-paying UFF members at the time when the grievable incident occurred. All faculty have the right to file an individual grievance, but those who were not UFF members when the incident occurred must represent themselves or retain an attorney. UFF retains the sole and exclusive right to invoke arbitration; non-members will not automatically have the right to pursue a remedy beyond the grievance process. If UFF agrees to allow a non-member to proceed to arbitration, the non-member will be responsible for the cost of the arbitration – $2000 to $4000 – and must provide his or her own attorney, the cost of which can exceed $20,000. If a non-member informs the chapter of an incident, UFF may file a grievance on behalf of the chapter if it is believed to have chapter-wide impact on the enforcement of the collective bargaining agreement; however, that is at the discretion of the chapter.

In addition, the UFF would like faculty to be aware that faculty and university professionals within the bargaining unit are NOT automatically members of UFF. You must complete and sign a membership form and submit it to UFF in order to become a member. In addition to guaranteeing yourself free representation in any grievance and arbitration proceedings that you may need to initiate in the future, by becoming a UFF member you will:

Strengthen the voice of faculty in negotiations;
Support our lobbying efforts for better higher education funding and academic excellence;
Receive professional protection by way of a free $1 million professional liability policy;
Obtain the right to vote in UFF elections and thereby influence UFF bargaining priorities;
Gain access to a variety of “members only” workshops, events and services, including free life insurance policies and legal representation;
Receive free professional publications and literature about national higher education issues.

To join the movement, go to the Join UFF page, fill in the membership form, and mail it to PO Box 30238, USF-Tampa via campus mail.