by Karl Ewald
For me, the tail end of any process is usually paired with a healthy dose of reflection. As the negotiations process drew to a close, I spent a lot of time thinking about the processes we use to make decisions. The core of our process involves voting and nearly all our voting is of the yea or nay variety. Depending on the specifics of the motion, the ratio of yeas to nays can vary considerably but ultimately the majority determines our way forward.
Along the path to ratification, we address our common interests, but we must also face those places where we have differing interests. Within our union, the most difficult discussions seem to revolve around pro rata: the percentage that relates the adjunct/overload salary schedule to the contract/regular salary schedule. This year’s discussion, like those of years past, was difficult. Rather than focus on the difficulties, I’d like to bring attention to our eventual result. The voice vote in Council on moving pro rata from 64.8% to 65.2% was nearly unanimous (2 nay votes). This was followed by a unanimous vote to recommend ratification of the whole contract to our membership. Our full membership vote yielded 228 yes votes and 14 no votes. It would be incredibly presumptive for me to suggest these margins are indicative of anyone’s deep satisfaction with details. Rather, they point to a willingness to move forward together despite any sense of dissatisfaction.
One feature of Robert’s Rules and yea/nay voting is that if the majority can bring a vote, it can overwhelm the minority and essentially disregard the minority position. We started the semester talking about unity and we tried to keep it present in our minds as we moved through the semester. We designed our processes hoping to preserve unity as best we could. Pure unity, 100% agreement, is hard to achieve especially if we are committed to acknowledging and balancing our differing interests. Ultimately we failed in our goal of perfect unity. Despite that failure and despite the sense of dissatisfaction many feel, I’m proud of our Council for finding a compromise where nearly everyone could agree on a path forward.
As our country moves into a future that seems uniquely uncertain, we may need each other more than ever and we might lean heavily on our collective willingness to preserve unity over any particular interest. I’m worried about the challenges we might face, but I’m glad to be working with a team that has already shown its strength and character. Together we will find our way.