Our bargaining session June 26 began with a spirited discussion about who is really in the driver’s seat for the Administration Bargaining Team. We have held four joint bargaining sessions during which we have presented proposals and supporting arguments on behalf of Dominican’s Adjunct Faculty.
So far, we are relying upon Admin’s lead negotiator, Natasha Baker, an attorney for Hirschfeld Kraemer, and Wendy Lee, the head of Human Resources at Dominican, to take our concerns to President Mary Marcy, Dean Nicola Pitchford, and Michele Hinken, V.P. of Finance and Administration. Imagine being involved in a legal case and in which you had to rely on the opposing counsel to make your argument for you to the judge and jury. Not only that, but you could not be present in the courtroom while your case was being argued. That is the situation in which we find ourselves. We have made it clear from our very first joint session that if we don’t have direct access to the Administration our voices aren’t being heard. We stressed that it is at best inefficient and at worst insulting to Dominican’s Adjunct Faculty that our Administrators haven’t been able to find time in their schedule to sit down with us. After we emphasized, once again, how important it is to us that Admin be present at the table, Wendy and Natasha said that Dean Pitchford and Michele Hinken will be able to attend our July 16 bargaining session for one hour. We look forward to seeing them at the table, and being able to make our case directly and on a first-person basis. Following this discussion, we began looking at proposals and counter proposals. Of our original twelve proposals, we have three signed Tentative Agreements, and are very close on several others. Admin made a counter to our proposal to form a Labor Management Committee. This Committee would be comprised of equal numbers of Adjunct Faculty and Administrators and would address issues and concerns with the hope of resolving them informally (prior to any Grievance procedure). We are working together on this proposal to create a process and structure that will give adjuncts a place to take concerns where they will be heard and supported. It is both fascinating and at times excruciating to see just how carefully the language of proposals must be constructed. This is especially true of a first contract. We on the union bargaining team continue to hold preparation meetings to craft new proposals, and are delving into some of the “meatier” parts of the contract. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Let us hear from you! Disclaimer: Since this post was written there is an advancement to report. Stay tuned for our next update! |
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September 2018
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