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No end in sight for contract negotiations

 

This “celebration of solidarity” comes after months of failed negotiations and passive protests by the faculty, including informational pickets and the implementation of “work to rule,” which restricts the faculty to performing only those duties specifically required by their contract. Recently, flyers were distributed by the union asking students to show their support for a favorable resolution by calling or emailing NECC President Dr. Lane Glenn.

Glenn said that he has received a few calls and emails but went on to say that he is not directly involved in the negotiations and that he already fully supports the faculty’s position. “The faculty and professional staff in Massachusetts are underpaid, as compared to the state universities and UMass, and as compared to faculty and professional staff in other states,” Glenn said.

Delays to this new contract exist both in the financial proposal and some changes desired in the language of the contract from both sides, according to Glenn. Though he was not able to discuss the actual details of the contract since the negotiations are ongoing, he said, “This is the first time in many years, I think at least 15 years, that there have been any substantive changes suggested to this contract, so that’s one of the reasons … (for the delay). And there’s a new administration in the state. The last two times were under Deval Patrick, and he just rolled salary increases forward.”

In addition to fair wages, the flyer distributed by the MCCC stated that the union members are fighting for a contract that “protects [their] academic freedom rights.” Dictionary.com broadly defines academic freedom as “The right of teachers and students to express their ideas in the classroom or in writing, free from political, religious or institutional restrictions, even if these ideas are unpopular.” This could include any sort of intrusion by the government including censoring a teacher’s curriculum, the implementation of standardized testing, discontinuation of funding for controversial groups or research and a variety of other interferences. Glenn said he is unaware of anything in the proposed contract that threatens the academic freedom of the professors and that no standardized testing or disruption to the curriculum is in any way being considered by the state.

Joe LeBlanc, MCCC president, said that the flyer refers to “…a possible threat from management’s student learning outcomes proposal,” but that the threat is not specific, and he was not able to elaborate.

He does not feel that any progress has been made towards resolution of the contract and said that the state’s financial offer has stubbornly remained at the initially proposed 2 percent raise in year one, 2.5 percent raise in year two and 2.5 percent raise in year three, which is a rate significantly lower than those employed in similar higher education positions at the state universities whose contracts were negotiated under the Patrick administration.

LeBlanc said in an email interview that since the implementation of work to rule, “many college committees are moving to adjourn. College governance has been negatively affected. This will grow worse over time. Employee morale will also worsen.” About the chances of the contract being settled before the start of the Spring semester, LeBlanc said that he is “not confident, but always hopeful.”

Glenn said that he planned to stop by the tailgate party and say hello to the union members later that day. “I, this college, and the other colleges, to the extent that I speak for them, want a swift resolution to this contract, and a fair one, obviously. And while we work on it, I think it’s important that we are civil and collegial to one another and that students don’t suffer,” he said.

Campus Life, Features, News

MCCC Union

 
unionpicket

At community colleges throughout the state of Massachusetts, 1,400 professors, librarians and other full time professional staff members are currently working without a contract.

“The contract expired at the end of June. We continued to meet with the state over July and August and into September with still no opening financial offer from the state,” said Joseph LeBlanc, “…at some point, the M-triple-C began to lose patience.”

LeBlanc is a professor at NECC. He was the faculty advisor for the Observer for 14 years and he is currently the president of the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC) which is the union that represents the 15 community colleges in Mass. A full time professor since 1988, LeBlanc said that he was unhappy with the policies toward higher education in the state under Governor William Weld and took action by joining the union.

“I pursued a pathway to become the president of the statewide union because I was not happy, but that was a long time ago. We were going through a lot of years with no raises,” he said.

After four years as the vice president and nearly ten years as the MCCC president, LeBlanc said that this year is the longest the negotiations have dragged on during his career with the union.

Contracts are negotiated every three years and although the adjunct (part-time) professors are also covered under a union contract, the contracts are not in sync, so theirs was negotiated about two years ago, without incident, under Governor Patrick’s administration. The adjunct professors are receiving a 4 percent raise in January.  

LeBlanc said, “I don’t want to judge the incoming governor too harshly, but time will tell if he’ll be a friend to public higher ed and particularly a friend to community colleges. We’ll see, but as of right now, I’m not enjoying the experience of these contract talks at all. They’re dragging on for too long.”

LeBlanc went on to say that during times of economic crisis, the union has been patient and willing to accept that the state could not afford a larger increase in pay and that they have even gone long periods of time without a contract in the past. The terms of the previous contract continue to apply until a new agreement is reached. However, LeBlanc said, “During normal times, we expect to have a contract in place for a 3 year period…  we’re not expecting to get a 10 percent pay increase but we’re at least expecting to have a fair deal.”

A fair deal would give the employees a 3.5 percent pay increase each year of the three year contract, according to LeBlanc, which would mimic the 2014 contract accepted by their counterparts in other higher education settings.

“The current financial offer from the state is 2 percent in yr one, 2.5 percent in year two and 2.5 percent in year three,” he said. “Everyone else in higher ed, UMass, the state universities and so forth, came to terms in 2014 at 3.5 percent, 3.5 percent, 3.5 percent. That was under a previous administration so this is a new group but we’re trying to push for the 3.5 percent.”

LeBlanc does not think that an increase in professor’s salary would translate to an increase in student fees, since they are voted on by the trustees based on the amount of state funding received that year and not so much on actual operating costs.

Since classes began in September, many NECC professors have been wearing buttons in an effort to raise awareness about the issues. In October, the protest became far more visible when a dozen or so faculty members began to hold informational pickets in front of the main entrance of the Haverhill campus encouraging people to beep and wave “to communicate to the president and his team that this needs to stop,” LeBlanc said. These pickets were informational only. Teachers are not allowed to go on strike, since they are public employees.

On the other side of the issue, The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (MBHE) has a committee of ten members who are appointed by the college presidents. The board includes lawyers, provosts of academic affairs, human resource professionals and a spokesperson for the MBHE and includes NECC head of human resources.

NECC President Lane Glenn is the chair of the president’s council. He reports to the board on the current state of affairs and he comments on issues that come up related to the community colleges. Glenn is also one of three members that serve on the president’s labor relations committee, according to LeBlanc.

Glenn did not respond to Observer email prior to the printing of this article.

Fed up after months with no results, faculty overfilled conference rooms on both the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses on Monday, Oct. 26 and voted unanimously to implement “work to rule.”

This is when everyone agrees to do their job only to the letter of what the contract requires. “People frequently do a whole lot more than (what the contract requires). They may take on extra advisees, they might do all kinds of things that are in technical violation of the contract, but it’s because we’re here to help the students,” said LeBlanc.

He does not think that the students will be much affected by this development, since the professors are contractually required to hold office hours and to serve on one committee or club anyway.

“We were on work to rule a couple of times when I was the advisor of the paper and I continued to work with the students to help them put out the paper since that was part of my job … I could have cut back, but I chose not to,” LeBlanc said, since the number of hours that he put in far exceeded what was required of him. The only potential effect to students this year is that professors may limit their email responses to office hours and use an automated message to answer for them when they are not on the clock.

The potential also exists for some extra clubs or field trips to be suspended, if a professor is carrying more than what is required of them, but LeBlanc said that the administration is far more likely to feel the effects of this than the students.

“It will take us a few weeks to iron out the kinks of work to rule so that more and more people might become aware of it,” LeBlanc said. “People will still be teaching, they’ll be doing their job, they’ll be holding their office hours.” The difference, he explained, is that while they will still be serving on their college committee’s, their only input will be to move to adjourn them. If anyone seconds a motion to adjourn, it forces the committee to vote. If the committee votes to adjourn then the work of that particular committee will not get done.

Work to rule is now in effect at about half of the community colleges across the state and is expected to grow over the coming weeks to include nearly all of the them. “We’ve been trying to grind this out, we really have,” said LeBlanc, “but we just thought, it’s time to proceed down the road to do some picketing, to go on work to rule.”

LeBlanc said, “Nobody likes this, but from now on in, you’re going to have people going to (a meeting) and they’ll move to adjourn. So, technically, they’re there, but they want to cause the colleges and the state some pain here, some friction, cause some anxiety, you know. We want to move them closer to our position on things, so that we can negotiate a tentative agreement that will have a chance of passing.”

As far as the next step goes, faculty will continue to hold signs to inform everyone that this needs to stop. “If it continues in the spring, you’ll see increasingly public shows of our unhappiness about it, but I’m hoping this will be resolved before break.”

Political Science professor Stephen Slaner said, “I see the problem at NECC as a function of the state policy on higher education in general, and having a Republican governor isn’t all that helpful.”

Though, he deferred to LeBlanc for the specifics of the current negotiations.

LeBlanc said that teachers have gone years without a contract in the past “during really hostile administrations” and he pointed out that Governor Baker was on the staff of former Governor Weld during one such time. “I’m hoping that he (Gov Baker) values public higher ed and really values the community colleges and the role that we play. The smartest thing to do, I think, is to come to terms ASAP.”

 

This is just misc…

 

Email interview with political science professor, Stephen Slaner on Friday, Oct. 30:

I would defer to Joe LeBlanc on the current negotiations.  In terms of your question, I don’t think students would see any impact of the “work to rule” policy – it has more to do with volunteering for committees or being available for special commitments.  Fortunately, Gov. Baker doesn’t seem as fixated as Scott Walker in Wisconsin, where collective bargaining rights were severely restricted for public unions (except for fire and police, who tended to support Gov. Walker).

Why has there been a steep decline in union membership?  (I think it’s especially serious in the private sector.)  I would say it has to do with the indoctrination we’re all subjected to about how unions are “special interests” that are only out to advance their selfish, narrow interests.  Noam Chomsky correctly takes the opposite position, that it’s unions that stand for the general interests of the working class, while corporations and most politicians stand for the special interests of the 1%, as the Occupy Movement put it.  We tend to forget that unions brought us the eight-hour day, paid vacation, and some concern for occupational health and safety, among other things.  As Bernie Sanders points out, our benefits are much less than those of workers in Scandinavia, and they would be still less were it not for unions.  People should familiarize themselves with the great Bread and Roses strike of 1912 in Lawrence to see what impact a union can have.  I don’t know that there are any real downsides to union membership.  Indeed, if God forbid we are to have a President Rubio, the unions will be one force standing against his “help the rich and pass the ammunition” policy for the various wars he’ll get us into.  (Needless to say, the unions would stand up against a President Clinton if she were to pursue similar policies.)  I believe that food service workers and Wal-Mart employees have tried to organize, and there’s a video available on the situation at Wal-Mart.  Naturally it’s an uphill battle, but the struggle is not yet over.

I’ve felt for some time that the TV series EYES ON THE PRIZE (the best series by far on the civil rights movement) should be complemented by a series called, say, ROLL THE UNION ON (to quote from a song about unions).  There are plenty of workers and academics who could help make such a video; the problem is that PBS, with its corporate ties, probably wouldn’t air it.

I hope this answers your questions.  Feel free to get back to me for any clarifications.

 

MCCC union information picket 8:30 – 9 a.m. Thurs. Oct. 22. At the main entrance of the Haverhilll campus.

 

Joe LeBlanc (MCCC_president@mac.com)

 

In attendance: (see pics)

Left to right: Professor Biff Ward; Professor Rick Lizotte; Professor and MCCC President, Joseph LeBlanc; Professor Pierre Leflynn; Academic Coordinator Joseph Scascitelli; Professor Deirdre Eudzyna; Professor Stephen Russell; Professor Suzanne VanWert; Professor Marilyn McCarthy; Professor Chris Rowse; Professor Tom Greene.

 

Features

Adjunct Professors Receive Little Benefits

 

In Massachusetts, the number of full time employees is 1,400 statewide. Part-timers? 5,200 statewide. Adjunct professors teach about two-thirds of the classes taught at the state’s 15 community colleges. They are part-time employees, paid per class. They receive none of the same benefits as full-time employees, such as healthcare and retirement plans, for example.

 

Joe LeBlanc is a full-time professor at NECC and president of the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC). This union represents both the full time and adjunct professors, as well as other professional staff and faculty, at all 15 community colleges in the state.

 

LeBlanc said, “We have sued the state for that issue (medical coverage) and we did not win that suit. I think all health care ought to be free. A lot of it is driven by profit.” State law classifies the adjuncts as contract employees; therefore, the state is not required to provide them with health insurance. “I don’t agree with the law, but we have been working to change that law and the universal health care law we have now helped to an extent. They should have the same pension that I have. There could be some friction there between those that are purely part time, and they teach at two, three, four institutions just to pay the rent…”

 

“The percentage of adjuncts is pretty high. Twenty adjuncts could be four full time instructors. I would like to see more hope for those who want/need a permanent full time job with benefits,” Developmental Studies Adjunct Professor, Christopher Corcoran, said.

 

The practice of using adjuncts began as a way to allow working professionals to apply their knowledge in the classroom, but as the number of students increased, the number of full time teachers remained stagnant. The additional caseload was passed on to these part time employees.

 

“Right now it’s shrinking a bit, because our enrollments are dropping,” said LeBlanc. “Historically, during great times, everybody has work.”

 

Academic Preparation Adjunct, Kelly Boylan, adds that job security is often difficult because an adjunct’s course load is determined by student enrollment. “I strive to have a strong relationship with my students and put their needs first. As an adjunct, I don’t have an office, but I make myself available to my students.”

 

The result of this trend is that many adjunct professors are teaching a full caseload, sometimes even teaching multiple classes at multiple campuses.

 

“What’s even worse is the fact that ‘Jane Smith’ can work an entire career adjuncting and she will not have a pension and she does not have any way to retire unless she has a source of outside income or she inherits cash. If you choose to toil away in the trenches as an adjunct for your entire career (you) cannot afford to retire,” said LeBlanc.  

 

Corcoran explains the give-and-take of being an adjunct by showing what happens when classes get cancelled: “If we don’t continually teach, in time we lose certain benefits and our pay-scale is reduced. But we don’t get offered courses continually and consistently. So most of us need to have other jobs and often, when we do get offered courses, those courses conflict with those other jobs. Also, I am not sure of how it works with the seniority of adjuncts and who gets offered courses first. One colleague has taught eight adjunct courses!”

 

An Inside Higher Ed article by Colleen Flaherty earlier this year said “A common refrain from adjunct professors who get relatively low pay and little institutional support is that their working conditions are students’ learning conditions. But many colleges and universities continue to ignore that message and rely on part-time faculty to deliver the majority of instruction. A new paper is calling out those institutions for their lack of attention to faculty career designs and is demanding meaningful, collaborative discussions to address what it calls an existential threat to American higher education.”

 

“Part-time adjuncts who want full-time jobs should have more full-time opportunities available to them. Non-academic work could be combined with our  teaching duties to create full-time positions with contracts and healthcare. We don’t always have to be tenure-track professors with a private office. Just a full-time job would be nice. Yes, maybe we would be considered over-qualified to do clerical work, but I doubt we would turn it down in order to get a full-time, permanent, benefitted position. We have paid our dues!” said Corcoran.

 

Fairness for adjunct professors has become a hot-button issue between state lawmakers and advocates for change; specifically, The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC).

 

Jerome Fallon, Adjunct in Global Studies, said, “You only convene for 16 classes maximum so it is vital to get to know your students quickly. Reach people immediately on a personal and respectful level from the beginning. For me, it is not about me instructing the student  it is about us finding a way to succeed as a two person team. With 30 or so students, that’s 30 teams you need to try to create. It’s time consuming and requires effort but it also portrays to the student that you are committed.”

 

“The disadvantage is not getting classes that work with your other jobs, inconsistency with course availability, never getting to teach those courses that you love and are actually better suited for, losing the money we rely on, and the constant wonder if you will always be adjunct. But a big disadvantage to me is when students ask me at the end of the semester and even years later ‘What courses are you teaching next semester? What else can I take with you?’ It is sad that I can never answer them, and it breaks my heart,” said Corcoran.

 

“I think there are varied types of adjuncts so they cannot be stereotyped as one group. There are those who want to be involved in the school and students and those who just want to teach a course without further interaction. Each person has their own schedule and style of interaction,” said Mark Beaudry, an adjunct for the Department of Behavioral Sciences.

 

Fallon said, “I love being around the academic atmosphere. I enjoy the fact that people are trying to improve themselves through education and am genuinely grateful to be part of that process. A disadvantage is that I do not get to do it enough. I have decades of industry experience to share and would love to find other avenues besides the classroom to make that happen. With the help of the department staff, I’m starting to make some progress.”

 

Another glaring difference for an adjunct professor is their lack of accessibility for students who may be seeking extra help. Full time professors also serve as advisers and they have the opportunity to develop a bond with students. The MTA website states that, “Higher ed faculty members see this as a significant issue because establishing such connections can contribute to long-term success — and at times may determine whether a student remains in school.”

 

Angel Baez, a 20 year old Liberal Arts Major, said,  “Limited office hours hurt students ability to flourish and get the help they need to do so. A lot of adjunct professors have a lengthy commute, and therefore limits their time on campus. Which in turn reduces or eliminates their office hours due to the excessive inconvenience.”

 

Technology is a definite aid to adjuncts with little office time. Corcoran said, “I do believe adjuncts are able to give a more personal level of detail because we simply have less students. I feel I can get closer to them because I can spend more time with each one in and out of the classroom, can get to know them, their purpose, goals and reason for being there and how that relates to the course I am teaching. I can answer emails with more detail, and discuss with them in person before and after class with a little more ease. As a core subject instructor, I simply have more time to explain where my course falls in the real world, their formal education, and why it is so important to finish it. Even if they hate every minute of it.”

 

“Holding office hours is a little difficult when I have to travel between the two campuses with only a short amount of time between classes. I often will arrive before class when possible or stay later when necessary.” said Boylan.

 

“I feel that adjuncts have much passion about their discipline and share their entire life experience with students, which provides a true global perspective. So, they should be compensated based on the education, experience and creative development skills that they bring to the classroom. Because I bring international experience and a theoretical perspective to the classroom, students have an appreciation for the real concepts being taught,” said Beaudry.

 

“I am just as much a student in my classroom as the students are (but) in different ways. It’s a cliche, but I do learn a lot from them,” said Corcoran. “My role is to facilitate the interchange of ideas, and make them comfortable in doing so and to make them understand the value in those ideas and how to apply them in the outside world.

 

All of this is not to say that college campuses are the only place where employees are exploited. On the contrary, there are quite a few industries that rely on sub-contractors to do much of the work, but the inequality between the adjunct professors and the full-time, union protected faculty is undeniable and is likely to remain that status quo for the foreseeable future.

 

In 2009, the MTA, the MCCC and five professors, including NECC professor Patrick Lochelt, filed suit against the state seeking health insurance coverage for adjunct professors, but they were unsuccessful. Health insurance costs are soaring throughout the country but it is particularly noteworthy in Massachusetts, where health insurance is mandatory. This forces the adjunct professors to make hard budgeting decisions that can negatively impact their quality of life.

 

Fallon said, “Having access to healthcare would be great, but it does not look like it is going to happen.  I know the union is working diligently on behalf of all faculty and I confess to not knowing as much as I should about the negotiations. It’s probably best that I do not comment on things I do not know anything about, unlike some presidential candidates.”

 

“Healthcare is a nightmare. But adjuncts do have an office! I call it the ‘Dorm-Office,’ as it is like a quad in that it has many desks. No parties though. Or none that I have been invited to,” Corcoran said. “I have often said that if we really figured out our true hourly wage, we would be better off at Walmart with healthcare and a set schedule. I think the hardest part is coming to the realization that it is what it is, and will probably always be so.”

 

According to Fallon, one improvement might be to have additional training options available for IT topics for adjuncts. “I get great support when I call in to the tech groups, but it would be ideal if there was someone there at night who I could visit to learn the nuances.” said Fallon.

 

“They (the part-time instructors) are going to get a 4 percent raise in January. It’s up to the college to pay that 4 percent raise, but I’ll also say that the part-time instructors here are largely a cash cow in that you only have to have eight or nine in a class to pay the paycheck of that instructor,” LeBlanc said.

 

He said that he would like to think that there isn’t any friction between the full and part timers, but that they live a precarious life where they can never really guarantee what their income will be, because when budgets are cut, the adjunct contracts are the first to go.

 

“These are a couple of points of great shame, I think. This state, with its reputation of having great higher ed, has this underclass of workers that they choose to exploit and it needs to end,” said LeBlanc.