7/24/2026
Our sibling union, Student Support Professionals (SSP), had their third bargaining session since beginning negotiations in April. SSP established ground rules at the beginning of bargaining, allowing all UPI members to attend. However, when UFISU President Ashley Farmer, Treasurer Debbie Shelden, and Exec Member Katie Krcmarik tried to attend this evening’s bargaining session, Mike Kruger, the lead negotiator for the administration, refused to bargain with the SSP table team if the UFISU members were in the room. As the administration so often does, they claimed that was not what they agreed to, and it was illegal for the UFISU members to be present. When challenged by the lead SSP negotiator, Vicky Johnson, Kruger cited his inability to get the university lawyer on the phone after 5 pm. While SSP members welcomed our presence, our members chose to leave so as not to hinder their attempt to make some progress after a 4-week wait, but neither SSP, UFISU, nor UPI cedes that all of our members are allowed in the bargaining sessions. We will be back to support SSP in their next session on Monday.  FB POST