Torch Voices

Dear Editor,

We’d like to thank the Torch for its coverage of the Ferris Nontenure-Track Faculty Organization’s 14-month-long contract negotiation with the university. We feel that the process of establishing our first contract with the university be as transparent as possible, and the Torch has been helpful in that endeavor. Having said that, we feel the headline “Drawn Out Ratification” is misleading. The headline implies that there has been an inexplicable delay in either presenting the contract to our members or getting consensus regarding the contract from our members, both of which are inaccurate. Preparing a new contract for ratification is time-consuming, with all parties involved checking the tentative agreement for inconsistencies both textual and grammatical. Then a copy of the tentative agreement is sent out to the general membership for review. Finally, a general membership meeting is held to discuss issues and vote on the contract. The FNTFO general membership meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, which is less than 4 weeks after the tentative agreement was reached. This relatively short contract preparation time is because we’re proud of the rights we’ve secured for our nontenure-track members, who until now have had no representation on campus. We look forward to hearing our members’ voices regarding the tentative agreement and continuing to bargain on their behalf in the future.

Sincerely,

Beth Reynolds

FNTFO Bargaining Team

Nontenure-Track Faculty

Department of Languages and Literature