UNM staff heads to polls to vote on collective bargaining

Editor,

As staff members at UNM, we march to battle Thursday. As in any battle, there may be some fear and uncertainty.

However, we will walk proudly, with our heads held high, as we head to the polls. As non-exempt employees, we begin the process of negotiating our wages, benefits and working conditions as a unit, better known as collective bargaining.

We do this as intelligent adults, interested in deciding our own future. We do this in hopes of forming a professional organization of our own design, deciding for ourselves what we want and how to improve not only our own finances and jobs, but our workplace, UNM.

If, after this election, we decide to join the union, we are then affiliated with other unions statewide and nationally. Our union will be our organization to do as we want, but we will have access to the experience and strength of many others too. If we do join, we will grow in experience and strength.

Although I’ve used a military analogy, this does not mean that our union will be forever doing battle with the UNM top administrators. This can be a relationship of mutual benefit. I think, maybe, we can decide certain things for ourselves. I think, perhaps, we don’t need parental figures telling us what we need and telling us that we have “access” to those who make the decisions.

We certainly want to have a say, maybe even the most say, in those decisions affecting us directly, don’t we? Maybe we want the power to make decisions ourselves. It is right and just, and not an impediment to UNM’s mission.

UNM is the premier educational and health sciences center in the state. To maintain that position and in order to grow and prosper, its staff should be the best they can be. To do that, I think we should be an integral part of the decision-making process, guaranteed, and we do that by forming a professional association of, by and for us and our workplace. That association will be a union. Let’s take the first step, and vote for collective bargaining rights.

Terry Mulcahy

Biochemistry and

Molecular Biology Department