PERC agreed with us: UCF violated the law
The Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) has issued a final order in a case that our union filed about UCF’s misuse of Conflict of Interest language to prevent an employee from assisting another employee in matters related to filing a grievance. We won! PERC agreed that UCF applied conflict of interest overly broadly and chilled bargaining unit members’ rights to assist each other in disciplinary or grievance matters. UCF has had to post a notice, stating that “We have violated the law and we have been ordered to post this notice”.
Unfortunately, the University chose to post the notice on some bulletin boards in obscure places, where very few employees will likely see them (especially during this pandemic as most of us are teaching online). In an effort to help the University inform all employees — as well as the Board of Trustees who may have seen this information already, but just in case — we are posting the notice and the PERC decision here, for your information. We want to make sure that you had a chance to see it and be well informed.
We defend your rights!
Your Faculty Union is here for you if you feel your rights have been violated. Please note that you have 30 days from an alleged occurrence to file a grievance. For more information about the contract, see this link to the CBA. To contact the grievance-team, click here.
Member Support
UFF represents union members in grievances, arbitrations, and charges of Unfair Labor Practices such as the one above. Our webpage contains a page about union membership that you can consult here.
While the PERC decision in our favor is a welcome upholding of the right of bargaining unit members to assist each other in matters of defending our rights as bargained, we are still concerned about issues related to Conflict of Interest legislation and policies more broadly. We will write to you again shortly about the new policy and related concerns we have about the University’s use of policies related to Conflict of Interest, including regulations related to ‘outside activities.’
For now, please know that we are here for you if you have questions or if you feel your rights have been violated.
In solidarity,
Claudia Schippert, Chair of Contract Enforcement Committee
and
Robert Cassanello, President, UCF Chapter of United Faculty of Florida
