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January 2003 Newsletter |
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C
O N T E N T S |
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By Ira Lansing News From Beyond Marin Senate Showdown Set for Spending Bill All eyes turn to the Senate as the last line of defense against a catchall spending bill approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 8-one that underfunds key education and other vital domestic programs, guts overtime protection and green-lights a federally funded private school voucher program. AFT leaders and activists are urged to contact their senators and tell them to take a stand against the omnibus spending bill the House passed 242-176. The bill offers the smallest percentage increase ($2.5 billion) in eight years for Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations and leaves funding for No Child Left Behind programs $7.8 billion below authorized levels. Higher education fares no better, as the Pell Grant maximum remains frozen at $4,050 despite state budget cuts and rising college tuitions. The bill also includes $13 million in its District of Columbia appropriations section for a private school voucher program at a time when District school officials say they plan to deal with a budget crunch by axing almost 800 public school employees by the end of January. At the Bush administration's urging, the bill also jettisons overtime protection for healthcare, public safety and other employees. Grad Assistants File Complaint Against Pick-A-Prof The Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), alleging that UWM violated the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act when it released the grading history and student evaluations of its teaching assistants to an online entity called Pick-a-Prof. According to Richard Hay, co-president of MGAA, the union is not opposed to feedback or critiques, "but Pick-a-Prof makes that information public," violating the graduate assistants' privacy and harming their job security. College of the Canyons Part-Timers Win in LandslideOne of the uglier battles for union representation in California ended this week in a landslide victory for the Part-Time Faculty United-AFT at the College of the Canyons. The vote count was 208 for the AFT versus 41 for no agent in a unit size of about 390. The part-time faculty, who make up two-thirds of all faculty teaching at the two-year college, have been seeking union representation for two years. First the full-time faculty union declined to include them. Then, when they were in the midst of organizing with the AFT, the district moved covertly to force them into the union that didn't want them. Despite two decisions from the PERB and the State Court of Appeals supporting the PTFU-AFT, the district continued to use its extensive resources to try to impose its will on the part-time faculty. Part-time faculty have the same qualifications as full-time faculty but receive only 35 percent of the pay full-timers get for teaching the same class. They are expected to prepare for class, grade papers and advise students, but are not compensated for it. They have no medical benefits and are not allowed to buy into the district plan nor to use on-campus health facilities. During the fight for a union, part-timers saw their classes-if not their jobs-taken away from them. "Many part-timers have taught for the district for 15 or 20 years or more, semester after semester, and this is how the college treats them," Ward says. Linda Cushing, AFT national representative, added, "I have never seen a district fight so long and hard using public funds to prevent their faculty from exercising their free choice to select their own union." Now, the main issues before the union in contract talks are equal pay for equal work, paid office hours, medical benefits, job security/rehire rights and a fair dispute resolution mechanism through a neutral third party.
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Early Retirement Incentive May Yield Benefits for All On December 12, 2003, the UPM Bargaining Team and representatives from the District struck an agreement establishing an early retirement incentive that may garner a small but significant salary increase for faculty. The full negotiated settlement is comprised of not only the retirement incentive but also changes in medical coverage and in part-timers' priority ranking system. However, these diverse issues share two common denominators: First, they yield savings to the District, and second, their implementation hinges on the success of the incentive. If the incentive works, costs are cut, and the savings are returned to the faculty. The UPM Negotiating Team, led by Chief Negotiator Paul Christensen, has been working since last spring to set up an early retirement incentive, but they were met with resistance by ex-president Jim Middleton. After his departure, the District and faculty were able to move in a better direction, one that not only would realize significant cost reductions for the District but also would benefit the faculty. The Incentive It has been agreed that if at least 10 eligible faculty members decide to retire by the end of the spring semester, each will receive $20,000 paid in two installments. To sweeten the pot, we've agreed that each retiree will receive $25,000 if as many as 15 people retire and $30,000 each if as many as 20 decide to retire. (Please "Early Retirement Incentive at a Glance" on page 5 of this edition of the Press.) The incentives for retiring faculty who work less than full time would be pro-rated. Several key eligibility requirements have been identified, so it behooves interested faculty to consult with Human Resources to get the details. This overview cannot serve as an official declaration of the offer. The deadline for submitting the "Resignation for Purposes of Retirement" letter is February 2, 2004. Medical Coverage Change Tied to the retirement incentive is a change in medical insurance co-payments. If at least 10 members of the faculty retire under this agreement, people covered by Kaiser and Healthnet will take on a $5 office co-payment, a $35 emergency room and ambulance co-payment, and a $5 generic ($10 brand name) co-payment. These changes will realize further savings to the District and those savings will be ploughed back into salaries. ETCUM Priority Ranking Change While not effecting any real savings to the District, a change in the way part-time faculty are ranked as ETCUMs has become part of the negotiated settlement. For determining the priority rank of ETCUMs who are on the same salary schedule step and column, the criterion of "protected status" is no longer applicable. Now, the first criterion will be "number of units taught in the District" and the second criterion will be "first date of hire." This is an all-or-nothing deal: If at least 10 members of the faculty retire under the terms of the agreement, all the changes take place; if we don't reach the threshold, none will be implemented. Faculty Accrue the Savings The total savings from retirements and from the reduction of medical insurance costs resulting from adding co-payments will be divided equally among all 100 steps of the Credit Salary Schedule. In other words, each step will increase by 1/100th of the total savings. After all the increases have been applied to the Credit Salary Schedule, the percentage increase at Column III, Step 10 will be applied to the Non-credit and Children's Center salary schedules and to stipend and substitute pay rates, too. Incentive At A Glance The Incentive o If 10 to 14 eligible unit members retire, they will receive $20,000 each, paid in two equal installments. o If 15 to 19 members retire, they will receive $25,000 each, paid in two equal installments. o If at least 20 members retire, each will receive $30,000 in two equal installments. Trigger for the Incentive For this incentive to go into effect, at least 10 eligible unit members must file the Resignation for Purposes of Retirement letter by the required deadline and must file retirement papers with either STRS or PERS in a timely manner thereafter. Eligibility for the Incentive o You must be a permanent unit member having accumulated at least 10 years of service with the District by June 30, 2004. o You must be eligible to retire under either STRS or PERS by June 30, 2004. o You must be 55 years old or older by June 30, 2004. o You must specify a retirement date between December 31, 2003, and June 30, 2004 (i.e., you must retire at the end of the fall semester 2003 or the spring semester 2004). o You must submit the Resignation for Purposes of Retirement letter to the Human Resources Department i the District by 5pm February 2, 2004.
by Arthur Lutz
Opening Doors Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their effects on human thought and behavior. Sometimes these signs and symbols denote specific ideas and intentions, as in a no smoking logo or an eight-sided stop sign. Often however they are less explicit and more connotative, as in the symbols found in poetry. Or in the way one dresses or how one walks; for these expressions also are symbols which convey messages to those listening or observing. Musical forms can also be powerful emotive signifiers creating impressions and moods, and different colors and shapes can evoke images and sentiments. Semiotics studies all these types of symbols and signs and the effects they have on people and culture. Politicians are especially aware of the importance of symbols and they rehearse their gestures and select their clothing and hairstyle with great care so as to manipulate voter sentiment. And huge advertising dollars are spent to create symbolic images in order to produce desired impressions and generate sales. And here at College of Marin our own administration has also been concerned with the effects of signs and symbols. In the past few years well over a hundred thousand dollars has been spent developing a logo and a typeface and a color scheme that would project an image that our management thinks our college should have. Never mind that during this same period scores of classes were eliminated and instructors were terminated and our buildings were left to deteriorate. Our COM image-makers have been more concerned with what our college should symbolically suggest, than with what it can actually provide. There is no doubt that symbols are important to people's perceptions, and I believe that we do need to present a positive image to our potential clients and to our community. But whether this image can be conveyed by a new logo or new stationary, is questionable. Rather, I would suggest that our marketing staff take a look at another kind of symbol for our college - the symbol of an open door. Last month, one of our long time programmers, Oakley McLaughlin, died. Those of us who knew him greatly admired and respected his honesty and his candor. And whenever Oakley was at work, whether he was deep in a project or not, and whether he was feeling ill or not (and in his final days he surely felt very ill), he always kept his office door open. It was emblematic of the kind of person he was - a symbol and a signal of his sincerity and his openness and his willingness to communicate. A sign that he had nothing to hide, no games, no sham. It was an invitation. It said welcome. For Oakley, his open door was a reflection of his open heart. And if you were to telephone Oakley when he was at work, he would always answer your call. No avoiding; no call forwarding. And if he was out of his office, he would always return your call when he returned. How different Oakley's style is from the style of most of our administrators. Most of their doors are never open, and rarely do they answer their phones or return calls in a timely fashion. Many of them avoid or discourage or refuse face-to-face meetings with our faculty, stalling or shifting responsibility to their staff or to the impersonality of email messages. It doesn't take an expert in Semiotics to understand what their closed doors symbolize - detachment and disinterest and disrespect. I really don't expect our administrators to be like Oakley McLaughlin. He was a very special person whose likes we won't soon, if ever, see again. But surely, when we are pondering how to improve our college, maybe we ought to think about why he was so admired and respected and honored by so many of us who had the privilege of knowing him. |
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