Official USFFA Update

Message from President Sonja Martin Poole

June 14, 2020

This has been a very intense couple of months, and I am so appreciative of the work and energy of all of our members. You have mobilized in a way that has not happened in a long time. I’ve been overwhelmed—in a good way—by this incredible level of engagement: members offering to provide advice and counsel, roll up their sleeves, identify the gaps, and then fill them in. And as I look ahead to what we need to do in the short- and long-term, I can see that we are setting ourselves up to be a very powerful force on campus. We’re starting to understand our collective power.

Our work here is not just an individual pursuit. This whole thing—this union, this association—is about the collective, and making sure we’re all taken care of. In May, we were put in a very difficult position as a union. Members cast a hugely important vote. It wasn’t easy, but I think we sent a very clear message: we’re unified in solidarity with one another, and we are concerned not just about ourselves, but about each other. This is what a union does: it offers us a space to act together, with a voice that’s much louder than any sole individual’s.

Over the next two weeks, there is a lot of work to do. We are going to be finalizing our own proposals and reviewing what the university is bringing to the bargaining table. This is an iterative process. Our target date for a vote on the final June deal is Friday, June 26. At the upcoming General Membership Meetings you should expect concrete proposals and discussion. We need your input to ensure that we secure the best deal we can for all USFFA members. 

Please keep reading the emails, presentations, and FAQs. Please continue to show up to the workshops and meetings. Take the surveys, and if the survey questions don’t address what you’d like to share with us, make sure you use the open comment link on the homepage of our website to submit your ideas. Do know that we are reading and incorporating your submissions. Some people are bringing us full-fledged bargaining proposals and we are adding them directly to our options. Others are sharing arguments to support existing proposals. Others are submitting particular cases that help us understand how members experience a particular policy in different ways. I can’t underscore enough how important this is. Your continued engagement helps us to better understand the diversity of our membership and ensures that we do not only hear the perspectives of those that are the most vocal/visible. 

Even as negotiations continue, I haven’t forgotten that we’ve got larger issues to address. As one of our negotiating team members said recently, it’s like the house is burning, but we also have a crack in the foundation. We have to do first things first: deal with the fire—this is June. And then my aim is to get back to work on the foundation, for example, the challenge of building true shared governance through our collective work.  

This struggle is about longevity; it is about staying focused on why we came to the University of San Francisco. At a very basic structural level, what we’re trying to do here is to fulfill and protect the mission of this institution. We’ve had our differences—with the administration, and with each other. But my strong hope and belief is that this experience will ultimately bring us closer together. As Kimberly Rae Conner said in her union blessing on May 27: “Together may we find the courage and strength to live out our love in deeds more than words, in the workplace and the marketplace, sheltered at home and among each other. May we continue to seek opportunities for beatitude, in these troubling times and always.” 

Yours in solidarity,

Sonja Martin Poole
USFFA President