2020 Vice-President and Treasurer Candidate Statements

Between March 13th and March 20th, members of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization will vote for their Union-wide Vice President and Treasurer. Below are the statements from each candidate.

Kirsten Herold
Statement for VP election

I am Kirsten Herold, a Lecturer IV in the School of Public Health, where I provide writing support for students and faculty.  I have served LEO in various capacities since our organizing campaign in 2002-03, most of the time as your Vice President, principally responsible for contract administration, along with Stevens Wandmacher in Flint, Barb Matthei in Dearborn, and Cindee Giffen in Ann Arbor. I have also been on all five bargaining teams. In that time, I have built a deep knowledge of our contract and our university, having established collaborative relationships with stakeholders on the Union and management side, across the University.  I am excited to be running for another two-year term.

We are also heading into bargaining, starting in January of 2021.  Together, we have to make sure we defend the very good contract we won in summer of 2018 and build further on our progress.  Ultimately, the membership decides on the contract platform and writes the proposals; however, from my perch of day-to-day contract management, I see gaping needs in at least three areas:

One, the pay is still too low, especially in Flint and Dearborn.  People with Masters’ and Ph.D.’s should be making more than 41K a year.  People who have been devoted teachers for their entire professional careers deserve to make more than 60K a year, especially when they work for a wealthy employer like ours.  So we need to think about both raising starting pay AND preventing compression and even leap frogging, where newer hires make more than their senior colleagues.

Two, we have a major problem with sick pay -- something most people don’t think about until they need it.  After 2 years of employment, we are eligible for six months of 100% sick pay, then six months of half pay.  After 12 months, we may qualify for long-term disability (LTD).  The problem is that if you have used any of that sick pay in the past five years, you may have a gap in pay, and benefits coverage, before you can even apply for LTD.  Obviously, it is not good to run out of health insurance, while you are too sick to work, but haven’t been sick long enough to apply for LTD – a true Kafkian nightmare.   This has happened to several members in the past year and we need to fix it.

Finally, our employer is becoming increasingly authoritarian.  Transgressions that in the past would have drawn a minor discipline (if any) like a written warning are now being addressed much more harshly – with denial of annual raises, unpaid suspensions, and even terminations, regardless of prior record.  If admin is going to take away thousands of dollars (or worse) from a worker because he forgot to do something or was unaware of a rule, the employer should implement proper training, not penalties.  

I believe I have been a dedicated and effective contract administrator. I look forward to doing this very important work on your behalf for the next two years.


Joe Walls
Statement for Treasurer Election

My name is Joe Walls and I am running for the office of Treasurer. I am the current LEO treasurer. I retired a few years ago after seventeen years as a Lecturer IV at the Ross School of Business. My major objective in running for this office is to ensure that the Union has the financial resources needed to carry out its mission and that these resources are well managed. Below are highlights of my background relevant to this position.

Current LEO treasurer
LEO personnel committee
LEO member since the creation of the Union
Member of every LEO bargaining committee save the most recent
Served as Bargaining Committee chair during one of our earliest contract negotiations
Served a term on the Union Council as Secretary starting in 2004
Served for five years (two terms) as treasurer of my church
MBA and PHD in business from the University of Michigan