Saturday, April 7, 2018

California Federation of Teachers Convention (CFT) votes to adopt Resolution: “Support academic status of UC Librarians.”

CFT Resolution adopted: “Support academic status of UC Librarians”

Good news!  At the California Federation of Teachers Convention on 3/25/18, CFT voted to adopt Resolution 9: “Support academic status of UC Librarians.”  UC-AFT members in attendance caucused to decide our top three priority resolutions for which we would cast our votes in the Higher Education resolutions committee, and Resolution 9 was in our top 3.  On 3/23/18, we made a strong enough case to persuade the Higher Education committee–mainly composed of Community College faculty–to likewise include the UC Librarians’ resolution within its top 3 (of 15) resolutions to move forward to the general convention floor on 3/25.   Following a moving speech by Miki Goral, the convention delegates voted unanimously to adopt the resolution. Go librarians!
This victory should strengthen our negotiating team’s arguments–centered on academic status and freedom–on April 17 in Berkeley.  The resolution follows.
Solidarity,
Roxi Power
VP for Organizing, UC-AFT

Support academic status of UC Librarians
Submitted by University Council of the American Federation of Teachers
Whereas it is the policy of the State of California to encourage the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, and learning through the free exchange of ideas among the faculty, students, and staff of the University of California; and
Whereas the Legislature recognizes that joint decision-making and consultation between administration and faculty or academic employees is the long-accepted manner of governing institutions of higher learning and is essential to the performance of the educational missions of these institutions, and declares that it is the purpose of state law to both preserve and encourage that process, including the stipulation of peer review of appointment, promotion, retention, and tenure for academic employees shall be preserved; and
Whereas California’s public higher education system (University of California, California State University, and community colleges) recognizes librarians as academic appointees and faculty, with all the rights accorded by the people of the State of California regarding academic freedom and peer review; and
Whereas the University of California is increasingly transferring the work of its librarians to workers who have neither collective bargaining rights, nor academic freedom, nor the right to advance via peer review; and
Whereas the University of California fails to respect the right accorded to its librarians by the people of the State of California to advance in accordance with the principles and traditions of academic peer review; and
Whereas the University of California fails to honor the academic freedom accorded to its librarians by the people of the State of California;
Therefore be it resolved that the University of California ensure that the duties assigned to its Libraries in advancing its tripartite mission be performed by librarians who possess the academic freedom required to better fulfill this mission; and
Be it further resolved that the University of California honor and respect the right accorded to its academic librarians by the people of the State of California to advance in accordance with the principles and traditions of academic peer review; and
Be it finally resolved that the University of California honor and respect the academic freedom accorded to its academic librarians by the people of the State of California.

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