Contents by
Section: August 1998
Front
Page
Lead Story
They're talking on campus...
On the Road
ActionLine NEA
In the Know
From Capital to Campus
NEA Affilitates in Action
Higher Education News
Money Savvy
The Dialogue
Thriving in Academe
New Unionism Takes Hold at Mott CC
Employer-employee relations had reached an all-time low at Charles Stewart Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan---more than 100 outstanding grievances, dozens of arbitrations in the pipeline, unfair labor practice charges pending---when Mott Professional and Technical Unit/MEA President Kelly Banks decided on drastic action.
"Our members couldn't stand going to work," she recalls. "We went to the college's new human resources director and told him that if he wouldn't stab us in the back, we'd find a way to work together."
That was four years ago. The result: The 1998 NEA United Auto Workers-Saturn Partnership Award for Mott Community College and its unions.
Five campus unions at the college---including two NEA affiliates---are engaging in collaborative bargaining and working with the college administration to solve problems and ensure quality education at the college.
The presidents of the five unions meet monthly with the college president. "The more we met, the easier it became to work together," says Banks.
Notes faculty Association President Steve Robinson: "When you focus on a goal rather than your own turf, quality considerations and classroom issues take center stage."
