Overview: Our union election is just around the corner! Although a specific date has not been named, we are expecting it to be set for this fall. Currently, CCV administration and representatives of our union are discussing the details of the election process with the Vermont State Labor Relations Board. We'll keep you informed of progress on this front.
Background: We are seeking to join the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation (VSCFF). This is the local union that represents full-time and part-time faculty at the other VSC colleges (Johnson, Lyndon, Castleton, and Vermont Technical College). The part-time faculty and the full-time faculty that are already in the VSCFF have their own contracts. Once we win our union election, we’ll bargain our own contract, too. The VSCFF is part of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) which also represents, among others, the faculty at UVM.
Update on our Democratic Free Speech in Our Union Process: Yesterday, CCV faculty on our organizing committee, along with AFT/Vermont Vice President for Higher Education Linda Olson and AFT/Vermont staff, met with President Joyce Judy, Dean of Academic Technology Eric Sakai, General Counsel Sophie Zdatny, and Associate General Counsel Todd Daloz to discuss the process in a deeper way. Everyone in the room agreed that in the upcoming weeks before the election, the tenets of academic freedom shall prevail and nobody should worry about retaliation for supporting the union.
Our proud CCV faculty delegation (L-R), Bob Lehr, Marty Leech, Elisabeth Lehr, Jil MacMenamin, Jericho Parms, and AFT Vermont Vice President Linda Olson met with CCV’s president and senior administrators to discuss our union campaign.
Our discussion began with an appreciation of common ground. Faculty expressed their commitment to CCV students and to the institution. Said Marty Leech, “I have learned a great deal from my students and from the many dedicated teachers at CCV. I believe that a union contract will benefit everyone by allowing us to advocate for what is best for our students and colleagues in order to create an even more productive educational atmosphere at CCV.”
Eric Sakai said that the administration values academic freedom and fully supports open discourse. President Judy emphasized that it is against the law to retaliate against faculty for their support of the union. President Judy also encouraged faculty members to get information and to vote. Sophie Zdatny agreed that CCV will respect the law and that academic coordinators would have information about the election process but the administration will not instruct them to dissuade people from supporting the union.
President Judy suggested, too, that faculty members read the part-time contract from the VSC, along with other part-time agreements, to get a “flavor” of what union contracts look like.
Below are the common understandings that emerged during the course of this meeting:
1. CCV agreed to a campaign that respects freedom of speech and the freedom to support the union. In the 2006 campaign, CCV academic coordinators were instructed to dissuade faculty from supporting the union. That will no longer be the case. While academic coordinators will be given information about the process that they may share, in this campaign they will not be directed to discourage faculty from supporting the union. (If faculty members experience any concerns, they should be reported to AFT Vermont Vice President Linda Olson at aftvthe@gmail.com.)
2. Both President Judy and AFT/Vermont recommend a careful read of existing collective bargaining agreements (union contracts) to give faculty members a sense, or as President Judy said, the ‘flavor’ of what a contract looks like. We have attached the Part-Time Unit contract from the VSCFF and the part-time contract from UVM. Of course, bargaining is a process and we’ll have to decide what we’d like to propose to the administration.
3. If faculty members have specific questions about the VSCFF, the administration will direct faculty to Linda Olson for more information about the existing union. Please feel free to email Linda at aftvthe@gmail.com.
As you can see, the meeting was very productive! We were pleased with the respectful tone and outcome. The administration understands we have the best interest of the students and CCV at heart, and they will let us decide this on our own, in a respectful environment. So, let’s get busy and form our union!
If you'd like to check out the contracts of other part-time faculty in Vermont, check out these contracts