(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – If you looked at the informational picket that was held at Buffalo’s D’Youville University on Tuesday (August 22nd) by Faculty represented by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), you couldn’t help but notice the number of area Unions that joined their AAUP Brothers and Sisters on the picket line.

There was (WNYLaborToday.com Photos): The Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF); the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and its President, Denise Abbott; the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA); 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU); the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the United Auto Workers (UAW); the United Steelworkers (USW); Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1342; the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT); United University Professions (UUP); and IATSE - International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, and its President, Tom Tucker.

They were all there to support American Federation of Teachers (AFT)-affiliated AAUP Local 6780, which has working without a new contract for more than two years now and has become more than frustrated by the administration’s stance at the negotiating table.

So, the question is why would the administration at D’Youville University, a Nursing School that plays such an important role in helping replenish Nurses at the area’s many hospitals, want to draw the ire of the entire Western New York Labor Movement?

“This is ‘disgusting - absolutely appalling,’” Buffalo Labor Council President Denise Abbott told WNYLaborToday.com before walking with her AAUP Brothers and Sisters on the picket line. “‘They’ve been fighting for a new contract for more than two years now.’  ‘And with such a shortage of Nurses, we need their graduates to go into good-paying jobs.’  ‘(D’Youville) won’t pay their people appropriately?’  ‘This shows such ignorance at the administrative level.’”

Abbott knows what she’s talking about. 

She is a Nurse who works at DeGraff Hospital in North Tonawanda and who also serves as Health and Safety Officer for her CWA Local, 1168.

WNYLaborToday.com reported on the lengthy negotiations and the lack of a contract for AAUP-represented Faculty last September (Click On: What Would The Grey Nuns Of The Sacred Heart Think? Labor Turmoil At Buffalo’s D’Youville University Has Some Staff ‘Leaving For Greener Pastures’ As Union & Management ‘Are Locked In Contentious Negotiations’ On A New Contract - WNY Labor Today: Your On-Line Labor Newspaper, Bringing You Labor News From Across The Nation, New York State & Western New York).

At that time, AAUP Local 6780 had 153 Members working at D’Youville, consisting of Faculty, Clinicians and Librarians, with the overall number having dwindled by 20 over the previous 12 months, mostly in teaching positions, according to the Union.

AAUP Local President Brandon Absher told WNYLaborToday.com just before the start of Tuesday’s action that the number of Union Members at D’Youville has fallen to 105 (120 overall, however, who are covered by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and who are paying Union Dues).

“Talks ‘fell apart’ about two weeks ago,” he said, adding the Local is working under the old four-year contract that expired “two years ago” - on September 1st, 2021.

The Union has been in negotiations for the past 2.5 years, he said.

There are six areas of contention that need to be settled, Absher said, including: Salary/Wages; Medical Insurance; Personal Time Off; Tuition Assistance; Short-Term Disability; and Intellectual Property, which would allow Faculty to “claim property on what they produce.”

“We ‘haven’t had a raise since September 2020,’” he said.

Faculty average a minimum yearly salary of around $56,000, while the President of D’Youville College is paid $360,000 a year, Absher told WNYLaborToday.com.

Under the current (and expired) contract, it would take D’Youville’s Union-represented faculty 20 years to hit the $70,000-a-year mark, he added.

On the flip side, it appears the University is doing well financially, according to the AAUP, which told WNYLaborToday.com after digging into D’Youville’s financials: In 2020, D’Youville reported a net increase in assets, bringing in well over $66 million in revenue.  This represents an annual increase in revenue of over $7 million from 2015, when revenue was just over $59 million; And as a percentage of total salaries, instructional salaries have consistently declined in the period 2015-2020.  Despite a jump in 2016 to a high of 65.1%, the percentage has since dropped to around 62%.  At the same time, salaries for “institutional support” have consistently risen, with salaries in this category increasing from 9.7% of total in 2015 to 12.9% in 2020. 

At the same time, AAUP said the University has proposed cuts to health care benefits, putting forward a high deductible plan to replace the current plan.

Said Absher (Pictured Below Addressing AAUP Members Before The Picket): “We ‘do have fewer’ Faculty ‘and fewer’ Members.  Morale ‘is low and everyone is pretty angry, but our strength is in our solidarity.’  ‘We want a fair’ contract - ‘now.’  ‘And a decent’ raise.  ‘This is about standing up for definitely what is right because at the end of the day, we do our work, we’re here for our students and providing them with a quality education.’  ‘And we believe in that.’  ‘And in the midst of a nursing shortage, we want to do our jobs - well.’  ‘But we want to be paid accordingly.’  ‘Having these Unions here with us lets us know they have our backs.’  This Faculty ‘deserves’ a fair contract ‘and that’s our message here today.’”