Nov. 27: Some good News From The Bargaining Table

​At our last bargaining session on Tuesday, November 27, AAFMCC presented The College with a proposal package that targeted the 6 major contract issues that we still need to resolve:

1. Compensation for Committee Work (new contract section)
2. Engineering and Advanced Technology (EAT) Availability and Seniority Procedures (4.3)
3. Paid Time Off (8.11)
4. Course Assignment, Cancellation, and Reassignment Processes (4.5, 4.10, and 4.11)
5. College-wide seniority for Online teaching (4.14)
6. Salary (Section 15)

The Good News: 2 Wins at the Table
After much discussion, collaboration, and compromise, we were able to come to an agreement on 2 of these 6 issues: Compensation for Committee Work and EAT.

Our next post will provide updates about the other 4 unresolved issues, so check back soon!

Win #1: Compensation for Committee Work
Highlights of  Changes

• The College has agreed to compensate part-time faculty for participation on various committees, councils, and work groups at a rate of $50/hour.
• When The College invites a part-time faculty member to serve on established or new committees, The College will present the part-time faculty member with an offer which will include the number of hours The College deems necessary to actively participate on the committee and will compensate adjuncts on a semester by semester basis for their service.
• Committee service will be processed as supplemental pay, and the compensation will not exceed the amount that was agreed upon in the initial offer.

Win #2: Engineering and Advanced Technology (EAT) Availability and Seniority Procedures (4.3)
Highlights of Changes

• The College has agreed to grant the following EAT areas the same availability, course assignment, and seniority procedures as the rest of our bargaining unit:
  • Automotive Technology (AUTO)
  • Civil Technology (CIVL)
  • Climate Control Technology (CLCT)
  • Engineering (ENGR)
  • Land Surveying Technology (SURV)
  • Media and Communication Arts (MACA)
  • Renewable Energy (RNEW)
• All adjuncts who teach in listed EAT areas will share the following contractual rights with the rest of our bargaining unit:
  
  • ​Submitting availability in accordance with 4.2
    
  • Receiving tentative course assignments 60 days in advance and in seniority order
• Adjuncts who teach in EAT areas not included in this list will still be subject to the course assignment provisions outlined in 4.3 (i.e., they will not be able to submit their availability or receive their course offers 60 days before the start of the semester).
  • The College maintains that since these other EAT areas contain a high volume of industry-driven programs and apprenticeships, these courses are often subject to a lot of last-minute cancellations, additions, and schedule changes. As a result, it would be impractical to make advance course offers and then undertake the task of extensive rescheduling a few days before the start of the semester.
• However, the good news is that is that ALL EAT PART-TIME FACULTY WILL BE GIVEN COURSE OFFERS BASED ON SENIORITY.

We realize that these changes do not reflect the totality of what we were hoping to accomplish for EAT faculty, but this compromise shows significant progress from The College’s initial position of “No Change” on the EAT issue.

Thank you to all the members who supported this cause and helped to facilitate this workable solution.
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