During the fall 2025 semester, the University of Connecticut has been engaged in collective bargaining negotiations with several influential and important unions on campus. Thus far, negotiations have been stalled due to UConn’s new stipulation that nothing discussed in contract negotiations should be disclosed to the public. The Editorial Board believes that this policy would be an affront to the unions and the interest of the public, and urges UConn to negotiate with transparency and fairness.
The unions involved in negotiations include UConn’s chapters of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association (UCPEA) and the Graduate Employee and Post-doc Union (GEU-UAW). All three of these organizations represent crucial constituencies within the university community. All UConn employees deserve to know where they stand on concerns such as pay and working conditions. Trying to keep the negotiations behind closed doors shows carelessness from the university in how they approach these decisions. The current collective bargaining agreements, which are temporary, one-year measures, expire in 2026. The clock is ticking on negotiations, yet UConn seems insistent on adding new wrenches in the works.
The recent proposal on confidentiality does not seem conducive to improving relationships between the university and the unions. The stipulation breaks with previous UConn policy and how other comparable universities conduct contract negotiations with unions. According to CT Insider, a petition circulated from UConn GEU-UAW states that “No other public university in our region…has negotiated ground rules that restrict what either party can share throughout the process of negotiations.” There is little precedent for UConn to push the new policy, and with this pressure they are bucking the tradition of fair and transparent negotiations, which other universities have had no problem sticking to.
Transparency in negotiations is especially important at present, as higher education faces a difficult challenge from the federal government. Trump’s brazen attacks on federal funding and academic freedom on college campuses, which the Editorial Board wrote about on Oct. 20, have created a stressful environment for faculty as they try to navigate the headwinds of federal pressure. It is no wonder then that first on UConn-AAUP’s list of demands in contract negotiations is the principle of academic freedom. The Editorial Board agrees with UConn-AAUP that this should be an issue at the forefront of the discussion. But UConn’s introduction of the confidentiality policy only puts more pressure on university faculty, potentially preventing them from knowing the full truth about negotiations.
Similarly, in the federal government, transparency is getting lost, as watchdogs intended to oversee various departments have been fired. Additionally, the press has also faced a multitude of attacks, such as the new Pentagon policy that imposed several restrictions on reporting on the military. In UConn’s case, the public is the watchdog that ensures the unions get a fair shake, and they also contribute to the unions through their taxes. Depriving the general public of information related to the contract negotiations only gives the process less legitimacy and cloaks it in a shroud of unnecessary secrecy, shutting down the flow of information. Instead of negotiating in good faith to protect academic freedom and working towards achieving other union goals, UConn seems to be trying to protect themselves and avoid potential public anger.
UConn’s current contract negotiations represent a tipping point for the university. The Editorial Board stands with the unions in pushing for full transparency. In doing so, we ask for a return to the status quo which universities across the country already adhere to – a process where those involved receive the information, guidance and knowledge they need. The proposed confidentiality policy only sours the collective bargaining discussions, and UConn must drop the matter if they want the process to be completed.
This article was updated on Tuesday, Oct. 21 to correctly display the University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association’s name.