Advocate Online

NEA Affiliates in Action

Organizing
The Illinois Education Association (IEA) campaign to bring the benefits of unionization to the state’s adjunct faculty continues to meet with success.

In October, the union’s victory in its first expansion and consent election increased the number of unionized part-time instructors to about 300 at the College of DuPage, approximately the same number of members as the full-time union there.

For more on the College of DuPage Adjunct Association, visit www.codaa.org.

In December, IEA obtained voluntary recognition at Roosevelt University, adding 150-200 adjuncts to the existing adjunct union at that institution. And the union is planning for union representation elections in February and March for adjunct professors at Triton and Harper community colleges.

In Illinois, about 50 percent of the classes taught at the community college are taught by part-time instructors, and the trend is toward more classes taught by adjuncts, not less.

Contracts
The Minnesota State College Faculty (MSCF), representing more than 5,000 faculty in the public two-year colleges in Minnesota, has reached tentative agreement on a two-year contract.

The agreement funds significantly greater health care costs and step progression on the salary schedule; however, across-the-board increases were not available to state employees in Minnesota as it struggled with a $5 billion deficit.

The settlement preserves some of the best language in the nation regarding hiring practices and layoffs. The hiring practice provision provides that no less than 70 percent of faculty work across the 34 two-year colleges be done by full-time faculty. The layoff package includes two terms of paid retraining time, full tuition/fee support, and rights to claim open positions for which the member is qualified across the system.

MSCF’s tentative agreement has been approved by the system’s Board of Trustees and goes to the state legislature for final ratification in early February.

Campus Activities
Negotiators for the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the California State University administration reached a tentative agreement in December that will extend the current collective bargaining agreement until June 30, 2005.

Because California’s dramatic budget crisis precluded any reasonable expectation of funding for salary increases or additional benefits in the current contract, CFA negotiators decided the wisest course of action was to extend the contract for an additional year, freezing and protecting salaries and benefits as they are now.

The CFA will use the period of the contract extension to focus attention on standing up for the Cal State University system—fighting additional budget cuts and working for a rational student fee structure.

In other CFA news, California State University (CSU) lecturers now have more job security, thanks to a recent arbitration victory by the Association.

The “Preference for Available Temporary Work” agreement between CFA and the CSU administration gives lecturers who have already been teaching a class entitlement to that class before the hiring of a new temporary faculty member. When fully implemented, the agreement will give qualified incumbent lecturers enough work to earn a living wage with health benefits.

"This was a really important win for us,” says CFA President John Travis. “It will make it much easier for lecturers who may be affected by budget cuts to secure additional work.”

Maine colleges and the NEA affiliates representing the state's higher ed faculty and staff are celebrating the passage last fall of a ballot measure authorizing $19 million in higher education bonds. Most of the money, $12 million, will benefit the Maine Community College System, which is in desperate need of the funds to pay for $35 million in deferred maintenance and improvements. The remainder of the money will pay for building repairs and classroom equipment at the University of Maine System and the Maine Maritime Academy.