LCC Faculty Colleagues –
With mediation on February 12 and no bargaining until then, it will be up to us as faculty, standing together and building strike readiness, to motivate the College to move and settle. If we don’t reach an agreement in mediation, there are only two options: the Administration implements their proposed contract that would replace our current contract, or the faculty strike.
Overall, we did make a little progress at the bargaining table today, but we are still far apart on many of the critical, key issues that faculty care the most about.
We reached agreements on: (see complete LCCEA Proposals Here)
- Definition of contracted faculty (Article 1)
- Initial salary placement (Article 27)
- Dues deduction schedule (Article 31)
- ½ hour paid prep time per class session for part-time faculty serving as subs and no faculty will be required to find their own sub when ill (Article 32)
- Increase of 2 hours personal leave for part-time faculty working in Winter term but not Fall (Article 21)
However, what is still at stake?
- Workload and class sizes
- Salary (COLA, steps, pay parity)
- Job security for both part-time and full-time faculty
- Many existing faculty rights in the current contract
- Faculty Professional Development funding and decision-making
Other topics we addressed today include:
- Part-time faculty seniority because the Administration continues to propose that summer will not count for part-time faculty to qualify for seniority, making it more difficult for many to qualify.
- Budget exigency (i.e. if there is a significant drop in funding) with the Administration holding firm to their proposal to renegotiate all economic terms (putting salary, insurance, and workload at risk) while our current contract and faculty proposal limits changes to unpaid furlough days, providing reasonable protections to both faculty and the College;
- Oregon residency where the only outstanding issue is that the Administration still proposes to terminate the small number of fewer than ten faculty living outside Oregon unless they move to the state;
- Complete contract clause the Administration continues to propose that would remove all previous settlements and longstanding interpretations of the contract that would likely result in more grievances and disputes; and
- Length of contract, with the Administration still proposing a two-year agreement, meaning we would be back at the table bargaining again in less than a year, which would mean nearly continuous bargaining.
- Distance Learning where we have proposed moving key protections to articles 13, 15, and 16 and eliminating the rest of the existing MOA (See full proposal).
On a positive note, the College did make one move on workload by removing their proposal that would have required mandatory overloads for full-time faculty, displacing part-time faculty as a result. (Administration proposals here.) This is a clear result of faculty actions in participating in info picketing, Board meetings, and signing up for strike schools! The more we demonstrate that we stand in solidarity, the more power we have at the bargaining table.
Many outstanding components of workload are still unresolved. These include class size, TLCs for labs and lecture-labs, among others.
See this updated summary comparison chart and complete side-by-side comparison.
What’s next?
What happens next depends on you.
Call to Actions!
Attend the LCCEA Winter Meeting for all union members on Friday, Jan 23, at 1:30 in 4/106.
Mark your calendars to attend the Feb 4 Board of Education meeting.
Sign up for one of the scheduled strike schools scheduled beginning the week of January 26 as we ask every single LCCEA member, both full- and part-time, to attend one session to be prepared.
Watch for communications with other critical information from your department reps and Action Team.
Your LCCEA Bargaining Team Leads,
Adrienne Mitchell
April Myler
Gerry Meenaghan
Michael Marchman
Peggy Oberstaller
Russell Shitabata
Lane Community College Education Association 