Labor Relations

University of Alaska, UNAC make substantial progress on CBA as negotiations continue

The University of Alaska (UA) and United Academics (UNAC) have made substantial progress during in-person collective bargaining this week, TA-ing 12 articles. 

  • TA—or tentative agreement—means that both negotiating teams have agreed to specific contract language. When all articles are TA’d, the full contract will be submitted to UNAC members and the Board of Regents for approval.

The Details: UNAC represents most faculty and post-doctoral fellows at the UA System, and their current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expires at the end of the calendar year. 

Zoom In: Negotiation sessions are taking place via Zoom and in-person meetings, and future sessions are scheduled throughout the rest of the year.

  • The negotiating teams also work and engage in the time between formal sessions to make scheduled sessions as meaningful and productive as possible.
  • Both sides are optimistic about reaching an agreement before the end of the year.

The Big Picture: Negotiations are taking place as the Board of Regents reviews and prepares to approve UA’s FY26 budget proposal at their November 7-8 meeting. Discussions at September’s regular Board meeting and this past week’s special meeting underscored that UA is financially stable, though significant increases in state support remain highly unlikely. 

  • Growth in Fixed Costs: Utilities, software, routine maintenance, and employee benefit costs continue to rise. Regents are considering how to balance those increased costs with constrained state support and strategic investment in university programs.  
  • Next Legislative Session: UA will seek state appropriations consistent with agreed-upon monetary terms in active CBAs, and fairly compensate other eligible employees.  

What’s Next? Negotiations will continue. Both UA and UNAC hope to reach an agreement by the end of the year, which would leave plenty of time for a TA’d CBA to get approval from the Board of Regents.

  • State law also requires the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review CBA monetary terms before they are submitted to the Legislature, which must occur no later than March 21, 2025.

Notable Dates:

  • October 31, 2024 – UA’s FY26 budget requests due to OMB
  • November 7-8, 2024 – Regular Full Board of Regents Meeting; FY26 budget request approval
  • December 15, 2024 – Deadline for Governor’s FY26 budget to be released and transmitted to Legislative Finance 
  • December 31, 2024 – Current UNAC CBA expires
  • January 21, 2025 – Legislative session begins
  • March 21, 2025 – Bargaining unit monetary terms due to the Legislature

The Bottom Line: UA is committed to reaching a beneficial and balanced contract with UNAC this fall. Visit https://www.alaska.edu/hr/labor/labor-relations/unac.php for updates on the progress of negotiations throughout this semester.

Published October 1, 2024