Nationally, more than half of all AAUP members are in collective bargaining chapters. Most of these chapters are at public universities in states that have passed enabling legislation that grants collective bargaining rights to state employees. Alabama has no such enabling legislation (neither do most other Southern states). This means that we are not legally entitled to true collective bargaining (i.e., negotiating and signing a collective bargaining agreement), since state employees are not covered under the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRA at least theoretically grants employees in the private sector the right to choose a collective bargaining if they so choose, but it affords no protections to public employees.
Here at Auburn, our AAUP chapter is what is called a "traditional" or "advocacy" chapter. We try to uphold professional norms and defend academic freedom, tenure, and principles of shared governance. The national staff of AAUP provides the chapter with advice, literature, etc. (including national president Jane Buck's recent visit, we have been visited by representatives of the national AAUP at least four or five times in the last seven or eight years). However, national AAUP is in no position to "represent" us or to "bargain" for us. We are able to gain a degree of legitimacy because of the existence of the national organization and that is quite important, but in the end, the struggle is for us (and other Auburn constituencies) to win or lose.