Dear Faculty Colleagues,
We are writing to you as your elected leaders of the LCCEA.
As your officers, it is both our duty and our great honor to represent all faculty, to advocate for faculty based on your expressed interests, to ensure that faculty are treated equitably and fairly under the contract and the law, to promote a more just campus, and to strive to create the conditions that allow us all as faculty to do our very best work in service of students and our communities.
We are writing to share an unfair labor practice complaint (attached) filed by our attorneys on behalf of LCCEA, the contents of which are quite serious. (The complaint itself is pages 3-14.) The complaint outlines numerous legal violations on the part of Lane Community College, including:
- A pattern of anti-union animus demonstrated by the Administration;
- Targeting of three union officers for retrenchment, including through circumventing contractual processes and seniority; this includes one officer who filed a complaint under the Board’s Whistleblower protection policy after experiencing retaliation after raising concerns about irregularities in a search process – a search process the Administration declined to investigate;
- Targeted retrenchment of three faculty of color, including through circumventing contractual processes and seniority, who had made a racial discrimination complaint and subsequently suffered retaliation in the form of hateful language by their manager not long before the proposed retrenchments;
- Refusal to provide data on bias incident reports when legally required to do so;
- Ongoing retaliation targeting two union officers via an anonymous complaint addressed to the College President, “written with the assistance of AI,” containing false and defamatory claims placed under the office door of one union officer; and upon information and belief, subsequently, the College President took an unprecedented action upon receipt of the anonymous complaint and forwarded it directly to the Board of Education even though complaints are not typically forwarded to the Board, let alone one that is anonymous and defamatory; and
- An intimidating letter written by LCC’s attorney directed at the Faculty Council in an effort to silence faculty.
These acts are unlawful.
We are confident that the Employment Relations Board will agree and grant the relief requested by LCCEA attorneys, including notice of the College’s unfair labor practices, once there is a hearing in a few months from now.
In the meantime, as your elected leaders, we want you to know that our commitment and dedication to the faculty, our students, our college, and our communities do not waver. We will continue to advocate for fairness, equity, justice, and the fundamental principles of a healthy democracy and a vibrant workplace.
As a faculty, we will stand together. The future and the very fabric of our institution depend on it.
In solidarity,
Adrienne Mitchell, President
Aryn Bartley, Secretary (on temporary leave this Fall)
Sarah Erickson, Interim Secretary (for this Fall)
Christina Howard, Vice President for Career Technical Faculty
Rosa Lopez, Vice President for Learning Advancement
Peggy Oberstaller, Vice President for Part-time Faculty
Wendy Rawlinson, Treasurer
Wendy Simmons, Vice President At-Large
Kate Sullivan, Vice President for Transfer Faculty
Lane Community College Education Association 