Category: Back To School Bargaining FAQs

BAck-To-School Bargaining FAQs #5

8/31/2018

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What can AAFMCC Members do to support our contract campaign?

Work with our organizer Nicholas to participate in activities/events that support our cause and the bargaining team as we continue to work hard to secure a fair and equitable contract for adjunct teachers.
Stay in the loop. Regularly visit our bargaining blog and read AAFMCC communications so that when people ask what’s going on, you can provide accurate information.
AAFMCC needs allies! Look for opportunities to raise awareness about adjunct working conditions at Macomb and about our contract campaign. Talk to colleagues, students, and friends. The more support and publicity we build for our cause, the better.
Sign up to attend a bargaining session so that you can be informed and show support.
Be patient and understanding. Bargaining is a long, grueling back-and-forth process. AAFMCC is a young union (MCC adjuncts have only been unionized since 2003), and this will only be our fourth contract. The contract needs a lot of work. Our working conditions need a lot of improvements. These kinds of changes don’t happen in a few bargaining sessions or even through one contract campaign.

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BAck-to-School Bargaining FAQs #4

8/30/2018

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What are the next steps?
Bargaining will reconvene the second week of September, and we strongly encourage AAFMCC members to join us for the following open bargaining sessions:

Tue., Sept. 11: Center Campus-P128 4–6 p.m.
Wed., Sept. 19: South Campus- P155 (Expo Center) 2–4 p.m.

Why does AAFMCC want members to attend bargaining sessions?

There is power in numbers, and if AAFMCC members show up at bargaining sessions, The College will see that we have the numbers and the support to fight for more equitable working conditions. The College needs to feel the pressure—to know that without us, MCC would crumble.
We also want members to see what happens at the bargaining table—to get a firsthand look at how The College responds to AAFMCC’s arguments and our proposals.

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Back-to-School Bargaining FAQs #3

8/29/2018

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What happened over the summer?

We had 11 bargaining sessions with The College during which AAFMCC presented all of our proposals.
The last meeting was on July 30.
On August 2, we followed up with The College and proposed a bargaining schedule for the entire Fall 2018 Semester. We requested that The College confirm as many dates as possible.
As of August 14, The College had not responded to our request to schedule future meetings, and so we submitted a second request.
On August 16, The College responded, but only confirmed two future bargaining session dates: September 11 and September 19.

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Back-to-School bargaining FAQs #2

8/28/2018

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Are there any consequences to working without a contract? Does The College still need to uphold the old contract even though it is expired?

After a contract expires, an employer is legally obligated to “maintain the conditions of the current contract, including both written agreements and consistent past practices, as they relate to wages, hours and working conditions” per the Michigan Public Employees Relations Act. However, there are a certain things an employer may refuse to continue:

An employer can refuse to arbitrate grievances filed after a contract expires, except those that concern events or rights that occurred before expiration.
An employer can can refuse to use payroll deduction to collect dues.
It is illegal for the employer to give retroactive raises to public employees in the State of Michigan.
For public employee unions, after the steps of mediation and fact finding, where it is determined that both parties are at an impasse, an employer may implement its “last best” offer. There is a mandatory 60 day period where parties can continue to negotiate between the results of fact finding and the last best offer being imposed.

Currently, we expect the college will continue business as usual with regard to policies and practices. We are also not at an impasse and look forward to negotiations this fall.

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Back-To-School Bargaining FAQs #1

8/27/2018

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When did our contract expire?
August 14, 2018

Why didn’t AAFMCC ratify a new contract before the old one expired?
AAFMCC intended on having a new contract in place before the old one expired. We began planning and preparing for bargaining well in advance:

We assembled a bargaining team at the end of the Winter 2017 semester, and the team began meeting in June of 2017.
We submitted our intent to bargain to The College on January 5, 2018.
In order to publicize AAFMCC’s preparedness to begin negotiations, the AAFMCC Executive Board, along with several AAFMCC members attended the Board of Trustees (BOT) Meeting on March 21, 2018.
- At the meeting, AAFMCC Member-at-Large Rick Fenwick, presented a short speech to the Board of Trustees wherein he introduced AAFMCC, informed the BOT that adjuncts comprise 76% percent of MCC’s teaching staff, and indicated that AAFMCC is looking forward to bargaining.

However, some circumstances were out of our control:

The College didn’t respond to our intent to bargain until March 28, 2018 (almost three months after we submitted it).
During our first meeting on April 3, The College informed us that they could not meet with us during any of the days/times that we proposed for April sessions and was also unwilling to provide AAFMCC Bargaining Team Members any release time for bargaining.
As a result, the first actual bargaining session did not occur until May 1, 2018--over five months after we put in our intent to bargain.

So, why are we working without a contract?
In short, It’s NOT because AAFMCC wasn’t proactive or prepared. It’s because, for over five months, The College delayed and stalled our efforts to commence negotiations.

In By the Numbers 2018, Macomb reported employing 1,817 total staff members. 697 of those employees—38%—were adjuncts. The College showed no sense of urgency for the labor agreement that affects its largest employee group and neglected to prioritize the working conditions of 76% of its teaching staff.

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BAck-To-School Bargaining FAQs #5

BAck-to-School Bargaining FAQs #4

Back-to-School Bargaining FAQs #3

Back-to-School bargaining FAQs #2

Back-To-School Bargaining FAQs #1

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