SFCC-AAUP August 2019 Updates

 

 

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From: Santa Fe Community College AAUP
Date: August 18, 2019 at 2:29:38 PM MDT
Subject: AAUP  Update: August 19

Dear Colleagues, Here is your SFCC-AAUP update for the week of August 19th. ·       New: Call for Interest in Faculty-Management Committee (FMC) ·       Update: Union Dues and Membership ·       New: Employment Contracts Must be Signed by Monday, August 19th ·       Announcement: Grievance Training with National Rep., Jamie Daniel, Friday, August 30 We had a wonderful convocation meeting last week and thank all faculty who were able to attend! Marci emphasized how our union has come a great distance in the past year, all due to the diligence and dedication of so many faculty members. Now, after many long months of work, we have secured SFCC’s first Collective Bargaining Agreement. As anyone involved in the effort knows, this was no easy feat. But with our first contract under our belt, we can look toward continually strengthening it in the years to come. This is an accomplishment to celebrate! We hope that this success might inspire you to become even more active in our union cause. Call for Interest in Faculty-Management Committee: One of the more important union roles—and perhaps the most immediately pressing—is that of “Faculty Management Committee,” a group of three individuals who meets regularly with three representatives from the administration to discuss issues related to the contract and to ensures that the contrast is being enforced appropriately from the faculty’s perspective. We have already, this early in the semester and this early into our contract, encountered issues that need to be monitored, and we are calling for volunteers or nominations for these positions as soon as possible. Please consider joining us as we work toward establishing a culture of collaboration and communication with our administration –and in assuring that our newly won rights are not compromised. Here is a description of the committee from our CBA: 30.1 A Faculty-Management Committee (FMC) is established. The FMC’s purpose shall be the discussion of faculty concerns and issues which relate to professional needs and matters which relate to te1ms and conditions of employment. The FMC shall be composed of three (3) representatives appointed by the College President and three (3) representatives appointed by the SFCC-AAUP. By mutual agreement the FMC may establish rules and procedures provided they do not conflict with any provision of this Agreement, study issues or establish sub-committees to study issues which will be reported back to the FMC and submit written findings and recommendations to the College and the SFCC-AAUP. Union Dues and Membership Update: Fulltime faculty who have completed their first year of probation and who are not considered “temporary” are “bargaining unit members,” which means they are covered by the CBA and that you have union rights. Paying union dues defines you as a “voting” member of the union. This means that you will have a say in things like voting on CBA language, determining leadership positions, and voting in matters that determine the direction of our union business. Membership brings up two things that we are working to get into place. First, we needed to determine dues amounts, and second we are working with administration to agree to language that authorizes the automatic union dues deduction from our paychecks. Finalizing the language in our authorization cards means we are also finalizing the accompanying logistics that goes with actualizing this union right. In order to assure that we are complying with our contract, members will need to have signed “Dues Authorization Cards” to be submitted to the union before the 15th of September. The union will then give payroll the authorization cards by September 15 deadline identified in our CBA. These cards are the official notice that you are a union member and are requesting that your dues be deducted from your paychecks regularly. As soon as the language on these cards is finalized with our legal team and with the administration, union representatives will be visiting you soon with cards for your signature. During the convocation meeting, we also voted on our local dues percentage which will be added to the national AAUP dues and then according to our new CBA language, automatically deducted from our paychecks beginning just after September 15th. The vote resulted in a decision that our local dues will be .4% of our annual base salary. These dues will cover essential costs such as legal fees, but they can also be allocated in ways that the voting members of the union determine. For example, we might someday vote to create a “Emergency Faculty Relief Fund” to provide assistance to members who might be experiencing financial difficulties due to medical care or family situations. Here is an example of the amount of dues to be withdrawn per paycheck this fall based on a $50,000 base salary (note that the amount of national dues will increase slightly in 2020, from $234 to $240 per year): $50,000 Annual Salary 9 mo. Pay (21 checks ) 12 mo. Pay (26 checks) Local Decimal Factor .004 (.4%) $9.52 $7.69 National Annual Dues 2019: $234 $11.14 $9.00 Total Dues Deduction 2019 per Pay Period $20.66 $16.69 Employment Contracts Must be Signed by Monday, August 19th: Many of you may have already signed your new contract directly after the Academic Affairs meeting last Thursday. However, if you have not done so already, please be sure to have signed in Human Resources by the end of the day Monday, August 19. In addition, before signing, do make sure to double check that your salary reflects the previously detailed increases due to all members of the collective bargaining unit. Grievance Training with National Rep., Jamie Daniel, Friday, August 30: Jamie Daniel, our national AAUP representative, will be joining us at the end of August to deliver a training on grievances—our new rights to grieve and how we can help represent our fellow faculty members who might submit grievances or have grievances submitted against them. The training will be on Friday, August 30th and more details will be forthcoming. Please consider joining us to learn about this important process—one of the great new rights we’ve won with our contract! As always, feel free to contact us with any questions, ideas, or concerns you might have. We look forward to an exciting new semester working alongside you all! Sincerely, SFCC-AAUP Executive Committee

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From: Santa Fe Community College AAUP
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2019 11:25 AM
Subject: Regular Fall Meeting and Officer Elections

Dear Colleagues, SFCC-AAUP will hold our regular fall meeting on Friday, September 13th from 12:30-2:00(room TBA). During this meeting, elections will be held for the positions of President, Treasurer, and Communications Director. Please consider nominating yourself or someone else for these three officer positions. Each will be for a two-year term ending in October, 2021. During the meeting, nominees will have the opportunity to briefly address the members. Each nominee must be a member in good standing of SFCC-AAUP. Nominations must be made by an eligible member in good standing of SFCC-AAUP and should be submitted to aaupsfcc@gmail.com no later than September 3rd. A list of candidates will be distributed to the members no later than one week prior to the election. Any member in good standing shall be eligible to vote. If there is only one nominee for a given office, that person shall be elected by acclamation. Voting shall be by secret ballot and ballots will be counted immediately following the voting. As we begin a new chapter of our union’s history with the recent success of our very first contract, we hope that you’ll consider joining our leadership team! Let’s ensure that the faculty’s voice remains a strong one well into the future. Sincerely, SFCC-AAUP Executive Committee

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From: Santa Fe Community College AAUP <info@email.actionnetwork.org>
Date: August 5, 2019 at 3:39:37 PM MDT
To: dsicko@gmail.com
Subject: Welcome Back Lunch Meeting: August 8th, 12:30-2:00, Room 216
Reply-To: aaupsfcc@gmail.com

Dear Colleagues, SFCC-AAUP welcomes you back for fall semester, 2019! We would like to invite all faculty to our usual convocation lunch meeting on Thursday, August 8th, from 12:30-2 in room 216, directly after Faculty Senate. Pizza will be served! The agenda is as follows: Welcome back Announcements (Invitation to President and collection of discussion ideas, Grievance Training, Upcoming Officer Election) Approve Meeting Agenda Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting Officers Updates New Business: Discussion of Membership Cards Discussion of Local Dues Vote on Local Dues (secret ballot) Discussion of Union Roles and Potential Areas of Participation Looking forward to a wonderful new year ahead! Sincerely, SFCC-AAUP Executive Committee