Greeting Union Members!
Good news: On October 6 at 5:30 PM the Union Bargaining Team and Management representatives came to an agreement on language for both the FT and PT contracts. The changes will be sent out for ratification on Monday. As in all Bargaining at least with this Admin, there were compromises. The good news is that Union members got some recognition of their primary concerns: Workload increases, Uncompensated labor and PT Scheduling. In addition, Admin has agreed to give the pay increase to FT Faculty for the next pay period: Oct. 27. PT Faculty will still wait until Spring term checks in January, which is the usual cycle of raises.
One of the most surprising developments is that Admin returned the Faculty Framework to the table and agreed to provide incentives. Although the incentives are not as robust as we would like we consider this a very important shift: Admin is paying for Professional Development! This is also important to truly honor the work of CTL and all the Faculty who created the Framework. They worked hard with the understanding that the Framework would benefit all of us professionally not create added burdens.
I will give details of our negotiated changes with the ratification emails and let you know why the Bargaining Team voted to send it to you. Or, you can log into our open Zoom meeting this Monday or any Monday at 6:30 and ask anything you want. The link is at the end of this letter.
This Bargaining took 9 meetings including 3 Federal Mediation sessions to come to an agreement. The Federal Mediation Service was an essential and welcome part of this process. We are all grateful for the Mediator.
Your Bargaining Team did a tremendous job. Stephen Andrews and Paul Broome did most of the heavy work of writing the changes and keeping track of all the many moving proposals and counter-proposals. As well, they did most of the presentations at the table. Thank you! Other Members of the Team took turns being scribe, asking tough questions and providing significant input into the work. This type of work takes many hands to insure that our contracts are better for all Faculty. So, give yourself plenty of credit for coming to meetings, sending emails and having conversations. This is the most comprehensive group we have had working on Bargaining in years. Thank you! Thank you!
What is next? The contract goes out for ratification. Already, the Union is planning our next series of actions. CNM’s accreditation agency the Higher Learning Commission will be doing a site visit this month. We plan to engage the HLC, Admin, and Faculty fully. The goals: elevate the lack of Shared Governance at CNM and showcase the plight of PT Faculty. PT Faculty are 70% of CNM’s Faculty workforce and teach 60% of credit hours. It is a situation of enforced and artificial precarity and uncertainty that Admin maintains with no benefit to Student Success and Employee contentment.
Fight On!
In Solidarity,
Mark
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2703462582?pwd=RkphUDNCWmF2ZDkwejF2VGFYVXVUQT09
Meeting ID: 270 346 2582
Passcode: 3FKqVk