Bargaining Update: College Proposes Numerous Take-Backs

LCC Faculty Colleagues –

Your LCCEA Bargaining Leads met with the Administration for bargaining again today. We exchanged proposals that are the second part of a four-part series of initial proposals by each party in accordance with our ground rules.

We presented Part B of our initial package proposal (below), which includes proposals on: job security, year-long assignments for part-time faculty, Florence accrual families, public health safety, and Oregon residency.

Our LCCEA faculty proposal includes:

Protections for faculty when minimum qualifications change, including time and funding to meet any newly required qualifications, retaining job security for pre-existing certifications, and an appeal process for faculty seeking certification (Art. 44);
The requirement that the College assign available courses to part-time faculty with seniority by the end of Spring for the following academic year (Art. 34);
The establishment of accrual families for part-time faculty teaching in Florence in a fair and equitable manner (Art. 34);
The requirement that the College follow safety guidelines in the event of any external public health requirements (e.g. CDC, OHA) (new Art. 46); and
The provision of an appeal process and several exemptions to the requirement that faculty reside in Oregon, including protection for existing faculty living outside the state, program needs, and other fair, reasonable exceptions (new Art. 47).

The College’s proposal presented today would (below):

Reduce initial salary schedule placement and reduce the maximum initial salary step for new part-time and full-time faculty (College Art. 27);
Allow the College to change the definition of the academic year to any three consecutive terms and allow the College to assign both part-time and full-time faculty to a work year that could include summer as one of the three “academic year” terms (College Art. 1);
Would change the threshold for contracted salary rates to 0.75 FTE such that anyone working 0.75 or lower would be paid at part-time faculty salary rates (College Art. 1);
Reduce the notice time required for contracted faculty layoffs such that layoffs could take place at any time of the year with only 60 calendar days’ notice (College Art. 10);
Eliminate the minimum number of full-time faculty positions (College Art. 10);
Allow any faculty member to teach community or adult education classes but at salary rates determined unilaterally by the Administration, which could be as low as minimum wage (College Art. X); and
Eliminate fifteen MOAs (College Proposal Intro page).

We raised concerns about how the College’s proposal, which lowers initial salary placement for new faculty, would not be consistent with Oregon’s Equal Pay Act. The Administration stated they would review our concerns and get back to us at a later date.

In addition, we raised concerns about a notice we recently received from the Administration indicating that they would revise workload calculations unilaterally outside of bargaining. At the table today, we explained that workload is a mandatory subject of bargaining, which means that the College is legally obligated to negotiate over it. We asked for confirmation that the College representatives understand and agree. We have not yet received confirmation.

Your faculty bargaining leads remain dedicated to achieving the best contract in solidarity with all faculty members.

Thank you to the many faculty who attended today’s session to observe in person and on Zoom.

All bargaining sessions are scheduled in building 2, room 214. Upcoming dates are as follows. Please note the new dates added for June and September.