The State Employment Review Board ruled March 9 that a potential faculty union at Miami may only include tenured, tenure-track, and TCPL teachers. The ruling excludes librarians, hybrid faculty-staff and visiting faculty. 

Only permanent staff, not visitors or hybrid staff, will be able to vote in an upcoming election on whether to form a faculty union. 

The Faculty Alliance of Miami had advocated for non-tenure-track staff to be included in a new bargaining unit. “Rather than trying to divide us, [SERB] could have chosen to listen to faculty’s desire to unionize together,” according to an update on the faculty alliance website. 

However, FAM President Cathy Wagner said she saw a bright side to the ruling as it doesn’t preclude them from unionizing in the future.

“The university tried to argue they were ‘seasonal and casual’ workers,” she said. “SERB does not consider our visiting staff ‘seasonal’ or ‘casual’ workers, this gives them a chance to be able to unionize more conveniently.”

According to the FAM update, eligible permanent faculty will “soon” vote on whether to  accept union representation.