|
|
|
||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
Home Page | |
|
Benefits | |
|
Forms | |
|
Committees | |
|
|
|
|---|
|
Contract | |
|
By-Laws | |
|
UPM Jobs | |
|
Salary Sch. | |
|
|
|
|---|
|
CoM Weather | |
|
Calender | |
|
Campus Events | |
|
CoM Weather | |
|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C
O N T E N T S |
View the contract from this link. 1999-2000 Contract |
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Professional Affairs Committee, Retirements and Upgrades
Alice Rocky, a UPM representative on the Union/District Professional Affairs Committee, reports that Maggie Rumfort has made a request addressed to retiring faculty. She requests that unit members who are planning to retire by the end of this academic year submit their "intention to retire" letter and paperwork by early December. If the materials are received early, those disciplines suffering a loss of a faculty member due to retirement may be eligible for "upgrades" by fall semester, 2001. Currently, California ranks: * 40th in per pupil spending Summer Session, 2001 *Only those classes which are scheduled for Fridays will meet on July 27 |
Board Approves Children's Center Agreement — Members Ratify Contract Language Children's Center Staff Now in the Unit After months of negotiations between the UPM and the District, teachers and supervisors of the college's Children's Center have become part of our bargaining unit. New language has been added to the Contract, including the addition of a second Faculty Service Area that will include Center unit members only. Once negotiated, these Contract language  additions and a new salary structure were approved by the Board of Trustees on November 14. The entire package, including a union dues structure, was subsequently ratified by the UPM members during a special meeting of the members held on November 21.Added to the unit are the faculty positions of Children's Center Site Supervisor, Assistant Site Supervisor, Lead Teacher, and Teacher. Each of these positions is assigned a salary schedule consisting of three or five steps and two or four columns, depending on the position. Column movement is based mainly on the possession of appropriate permits, academic degrees, and additional Early Childhood course units. Step advancement is achieved every four semesters completed at 100% workload. Through negotiations, our new unit colleagues have realized significant percentage increases in salary. In addition, the staff will be given retroactive pay to the 1999-2000 academic year. Unit members in the Children's Center will be covered by a full range of benefits. Those poeple working 80% or more receive full medical, vision, and dental coverage. Any staff member working between 60% and 80% of a full load will have prorated benefits. For example, a person working 75% load may, if he or she chooses, have 75% coverage with 75% of the total cost paid by the District and 25% paid by the employee. Anyone working less than a 60% load has the chance to buy into the benefits. With the agreeement approved by the Board and ratified by the UPM members, we finally come to the end of a long but productive period of negotiations, and we can at last welcome the Children's Center staff into the bargaining unit.  Ponderings of the PresidentAs I write this column it is mid-November and the outcome is still not known. Who could have anticipated that when this process began so many months ago it would still be unresolved at this time. The rhetoric and rumors that are circulating are amazing. The hostility and agitation shown by others is also unexpected. Still, I personally find this process very interesting to observe (certainly better than an impeachment, which definitely had political motivations, while this event is actually the will of the people, democracy in action, if you like). Initially it seemed as if everything had been worked out and the natural course of events had taken place; and then, while not actually the last minute, everything changed. Determinations that had seemed certain were being questioned. Entire rationales for making some of the designations were even in doubt. What was believed to be a definite outcome could no longer be predicted. But again, the people, the membership if you like, were having their say, and that would determine the results. To some of the parties involved I am sure that the stakes are high and that is why the outcome is so important. To say that someone’s job is involved is putting it mildly. As many have pointed out, while it is a job, there also are repercussions that affect all of us, not least of which are the perceptions of certain personal freedoms. While these are extremely important, let us all remember that this is part of a regular cycle of events and if things do not work to your satisfaction this time, the outcome can still change later. Again, if enough people feel the same way, then I have no doubt that the definitions for lab and lecture can be modified to the satisfaction of the majority. After all, that’s how your Union works, and that’s how changes occur. You raise your hand, you cast your vote, it is counted, and the result is tallied. And you can bet that the outcome is known a lot sooner than it is in Florida. Just like knowing who (or is it when?) the next President of the United States will be requires paying attention, so too will the outcome of language and negotiations for any changes in unit definitions. Pay attention, stay involved, and remember—if you don’t vote, you can’t complain! Teaching Unit Definitions: A Work in Progress For years, literally, the UPM has been trying to help hammer out a  workable plan with the District to define and ultimately implement a new set of definitions for teaching units. This effort has come in response to the desires of union members who have charted the course of the process from the beginning. The direction we take on the issue continues to be determined by members' stated wishes.Recently, in a special meeting of the members held on October 17th, faculty expressed concern about the concrete application of the definitions and directed the UPM bargaining team to take two specific actions. The first of these actions was to bargain for a sidebar that would effectively "freeze" the process. The goal here was not to scrap the idea entirely but to allow time to devise and implement new definitions of teaching unit categories. Unfortunately, the representatives of the District on the UDWC refused to consider such a freeze, citing the great amount of time and work already invested in applying definitions to all courses in the curriculum. The second action directed by the UPM members during the special meeting was to continue working on a bargaining position for the next contract, possibly creating new definitions of teaching unit categories based on the intervening work conducted by faculty. The idea here is to  keep the process alive and to seek improvements along the way. At present, faculty members are at work with the goal of helping shape the UPM's future positions. Any member of the union wanting to become involved should contact a UPM member of the UDWC or Ira Lansing. One thing is for sure: the eventual outcome of this entire process will be determined through negotiations with the District, and the union's position in those negotiations will be determined by the will of union members. CFT Looking for Part-Time Faculty Coordinator The California Federation of Teachers (CFT) is soliciting applications for  a half-time, 12-month position as CFT Part-Time Faculty Coordinator. Applications must be postmarked by November 30, 2000, so if you are interested, you had better hussle. But even if you're not interested in actually applying, you may well find the mere fact that this position exists most interesting. First, the CFT position will be filled by a part-time, community college faculty member who has high-level union experience and professional skills. The candidate must have been involved in union work related to part-time faculty, such as grievances, negotiations, executive council membership, committee participation, and the like. The candidate taking this position will have to be, of course, a part-timer in an AFT/CFT district and a member of an AFT/CFT local in that district. Good communication, presentation, computer, and interpersonal skills are required. Qualifications are high, and the expected work is significant and demanding. The person in the position helps coordinate CCC/CFT political action activity on part-timer issues and must on occasion testify at hearings and legislative committee meetings. The Coordinator serves as a facilitator and executive secretary to the CCC part-time faculty committee. The duty list also includes representation of CCC/CFT policy and positions on part-time faculty issues, coordination and presentation of part-time faculty workshops at the CFT convention and other conferences, and contribution to the CFT Part-Time Faculty Newsletter. Paying $26,872 per year, plus health benefits and paid vacation, the postion requires a minimum of 20 hours per week. Among the goals of the Coordinator are the improvement of professional conditions of part-time faculty, including equitible pay, paid office hours, health benefits, and re-employment rights; the development of the full-time-to-part-time ratio of 75%-25%, thereby supporting advancement of part-time to full-time; and promoting part-time employee issues. Sounds a lot like our Contract. It seems clear that College of Marin could rather easily yield more than one qualified applicant for this position. (Contact Press Editor L. Tjernell for application information.) The lot of the part-time faculty member, while much better here at CoM than in most other places, is a tough one. That the CFT maintains this Coordinator position reveals the organization's understanding of both the contribution and of the plight of the part-timer. Community College, UC Professors Rally For Full-Time Jobs
|
Web Page graphics & design by Mike Godsey, windfind@sonic.nett
Board Approves Children's Center Agreement. Members Ratify Contract Language
paying Ph.D.s so little that they could qualify for welfare, and putting them in the position where they drive hundreds of miles each day or week, working in two or three districts, to make ends meet," said Mary Bergan, President of the CFT, which represents 100,000 educators. "Equal pay is mandated for part-time K-12 teachers by the California Education Code. Why should community college instructor pay be any different?"