Greetings Union Members!
The past month has been busy as we gear up for Bargaining, 2023.
As in my previous post, we are paying close attention to the Faculty Framework. Thank you to everyone who has shown up to work on this. Thanks especially are due to Stephen Andrews for all the labor of combing through the contracts and putting together a comprehensive package. I feel we have a very good package to open Bargaining with. As always, your ideas are welcome: join us at our Friday meetings.
Part of our strategy has been to offer the Administration the opportunity to address all the multivalent issues aligned with the Faculty Framework in a thoughtful, collaborative setting. CNMEU sent a request for Bargaining, including the idea of working on both the FT and PT contracts simultaneously. In addition, we offered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which would give everyone the much anticipated 6% raise in Fall while we work out the details of the Faculty Framework in a thoughtful fashion. If has been several weeks since we made our requests and Admin has not chosen to respond.
It is hard for me not to read this as a cold-shoulder to a good faith effort to address issues of mutual interest in a thoughtful, collaborative way. It would be good to leave the acrimony of the past two years behind and work toward common goals when they are identified. If CNM Admin remains invested in a path of unilateral change despite Faculty objections, then we know how to fight. We have many tools at hand to counter Admin should they take a course of confrontation.
Ultimately, things will not turn around in Faculty/Admin relations until the culture of jealous guardianship of privilege changes. Whatever fights we have this year or the next, the larger goal remains Shared Governance. This means an Administration that is responsive to Faculty concerns and is genuinely inclusive in decision making and setting priorities. This also means a Faculty that is very engaged with these decisions. True power sharing is work and commitment.
Not everything that we are planning or thinking should be shared on public forums. Especially when Bargaining begins, we will be limited in what we can post. That is why we are reaching out to you to contact our Communications Chair, Ken Bernier. Please send him your non-CNM email so we can create private groups for Bargaining updates. And other Union news!
He can be reached at: cnmeucommunications@gmail.com
Also, scroll to the bottom of this page and sign up for our Twitter and Facebook accounts! It will add spice to your life (Red and Green.)
Drop by and share your concerns. We are meeting each Friday at 8:30 am at 3816 Carlisle NE. All are welcome.
In Solidarity,
Mark