No substantial progress in July 25 bargaining session with mediator attending

Bargaining on July 25 lasted about five hours, with Federal Mediator Joe Wilson in attendance.

The Faculty Team members said critical compensation and workload issues that are standing in the way of a settlement still are not resolved.

Faculty Team Co-leader Greg Klein said, “It’s unclear at this moment whether we will be able to reach an agreement with the administration at the bargaining table, or whether the unresolved issues will need to be presented to a neutral fact-finder (appointed by the State Employment Relations Board) who will make recommendations for a possible settlement.”

“However, the two teams agreed to meet again with the mediator present on Thursday, July 27—-so there is still time to reach a negotiated agreement,” Greg said.

Faculty Team member Betsy LaSorella said, “It’s very disappointing that the Administration’s workload and compensation proposals so far don’t seem to show respect for the incredible amount of hard work faculty have dedicated to the College during the past few years, even when we weren’t getting meaningful raises.”

Between now and Thursday morning, the Faculty Team will continue to work on finding creative solutions that will provide needed improvements in faculty compensation and address workload concerns, particularly for chairs and College Credit Plus coordinators.

Faculty Team Co-leader Julie McLaughlin said, “Although the Faculty and Administration proposals for compensation and workload continue to be very far apart, our team continues to be willing to work on new ways to come to an acceptable agreement, without the time and cost involved in fact-finding.”

“We hope the Administration also wants to bring negotiations to a successful conclusion at the table, so all of us can turn our focus to getting ready to serve our students as Summer ends and the start of Fall Semester approaches,” Julie added.