The faculty union at New Mexico State University hand-delivered a complaint to President Valerio Ferme on Monday, alleging the administration had engaged in bad-faith negotiations.
Union members stood before Hadley Hall, NMSU’s administration building, holding black-and-white signs with the phrases, “Juntos Unidos“ and “We Can’t Wait! Fair Contract Now!”
Three signs bearing the numerals 662 marked the days since NMSU’s chapter of the National Education Association began negotiating; they still have yet to reach an agreement on family leave, healthcare and pay they say is much lower than that at peer institutions, according to the complaint they submitted to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board, alleging prohibited practices.
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The union accuses the administration of repeatedly violating state law, alleging officials crossed out a proposed family leave article, delayed submitting counterproposals, got rid of baseline raise increases as a starting point for negotiations, arrived late to negotiation sessions and canceled sessions at the last minute.
After the faculty unionized in 2024 with a majority vote, it began the process of negotiations, crystalizing its contract proposals. While the union — a chapter of the National Education Association — continues to meet with university administrators, leaders say the administration’s counterproposals are significantly delayed or do not come at all, and they do not not answer “basic questions posed by the union,” according to the complaint.
NMSU-NEA is not alone in facing a lag between unionizing and negotiating its first contract: A Bloomberg news analysis found the average time to negotiate a union contract between 2020 and 2022 was over 500 days and seemed to be increasing. Another 2023 study found that after two years, 43% of unions were still working without a first contract.
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Throughout the negotiations, NMSU-NEA, joined by over 800 faculty members, wrote and proposed 25 of the 26 contract articles. The administration has not stepped up to write proposals, the union argues, despite paying an outside counsel to lead the negotiations. The only contract article the administration brought to the table centered on establishing its own rights as management, which faculty took issue with.
“That’s a pretty lopsided effort,” Jamie Bronstein, a history professor and the NMSU-NEA union representative, said Monday outside Hadley Hall.
“If union bargaining were a class, they would have earned an F for late work. But because it isn’t a class, we have filed a PPC, a prohibited practices complaint, with the state labor board,” Bronstein said.
“New Mexico State University is aware of the complaint and will respond through the appropriate administrative process. NMSU remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the Public Employee Bargaining Act and engaging in good-faith collective bargaining,” university spokesperson Amanda Wyatt said in a statement Monday. “We will not comment further on the specific allegations while the matter is pending.”
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The union is asking the Public Employee Labor Relations Board to order the university to bargain in good faith, reschedule any canceled sessions and publicly acknowledge violations while pledging not to let them happen again.
The faculty union’s complaint marks the second the NMSU administration has received in two weeks.
The graduate student union alleged Nov. 2 the university had stopped deducting union dues from some members’ paychecks without their knowledge. Union President Caedmon Ragland told local radio station KRWG this had deprived the union of “in the realm of $10,000 or more.”
While the two complaints differ, the faculty union said in a statement “it is noteworthy that both unions took the extraordinary step of filing a formal complaint.”
English Professor Michelle Granger said Monday outside Hadley Hall, “Faculty deserve a fair and timely process that respects their rights to bargain. Prolonged negotiations, including last-minute cancellations, refusals to make counteroffers and proposed pay cuts in a time of rising inflation demonstrate the administration’s failure to bargain in good faith.”
She added, “Faculty should not have to wait years for the protections and respect that we deserve.”
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Julia Gentin is a reporter for The Las Cruces New Mexican, The Santa Fe New Mexican and Searchlight New Mexico through a partnership with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. She covers the Southern New Mexico region. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
