Some members of the media inquired whether UHPA’s lawsuit would be changed as a result of the announcement by the Governor to delay or defer the furloughs.

The following response from our Executive Director Christian Fern provided the rationale for the lawsuit:

“Since April of this year, Gov. Ige has continued to send mixed messages to public-sector unions about furloughs. The on-again, off-again messages have been unsettling. This has created a considerable amount of confusion among UHPA members. Today [12/23/20] we saw yet another example of poor communication. UHPA was not informed of the Governor’s plan to delay the furloughs. We learned about this with everyone else when he announced it this afternoon. Based upon the Governorʻs statement, the University administration informed faculty members late this afternoon that furloughs are delayed, but that ‘itʻs a fluid situation.’ We had been working on this lawsuit since Dec. 9, when he announced he would unilaterally mandate the furloughs. Without any details, this has created an ongoing atmosphere of uncertainty about what the governor may be planning. We had to move forward with filing our lawsuit to protect the interests of UHPA members.”