MCCC Home | Year Index | 1992 Index

In This Issue:

• House Overrides Governor's Veto
• Colleges Must Post Vacancies
• Mark Your Calendars
• Early Retirement Bill Filed

Override of Governor's Veto Expected

On December 10, 1992, the governor returned to the House and Senate, unsigned, House Bill 6208, our collective bargaining increases. In a further attempt to prevent this bill from passing, the governor raised the legal question regarding the process the legislature followed in proposing and voting on this bill. Specifically he cited the State Ethics Commission warning concerning legislators who may not vote on "special" legislation if they have family members who may benefit from the vote. You may recall that the senate changed the bill from "special" to "general" legislation in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Though this new threat to prevent state employees from getting a raise is no surprise, the legislature is expected to override the governor's veto. (Bill was overridden in House on December 14, 1992, 88-22.) As this newsletter goes to press, the bill should be law by the time you read this.

It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to take a few minutes to call or write your representative and senator and thank them for their support. We must let them know that we appreciate their taking on the governor and the state's citizens to pass this bill. A number of legislators have taken a lot of criticism for their support of the state workers, and that support must not go unrecognized or unacknowledged.

Proposed Changes To Bylaws Due

If anyone is interested in submitting proposed changes to the MCCC Constitution and Bylaws, they must do so in writing no later than February 1, 1993. Proposed changes must be sent to the Constitution and Bylaws chair, Ernest Therrien.

Colleges Must Post Vacancies

Over the past few years, some colleges have been moving non-unit employees, mostly administrators, into our bargaining unit jobs without posting the vacancy or following the contract for the filling of these positions. Additionally, when the colleges have moved these non-unit employees into these positions, the employees have carried their salary which is most often higher than the salaries of unit members teaching or working in that work area. The MCCC has a number of pending grievances and arbitrations on this issue. In November the MCCC received a precedent-setting decision from Arbitrator James Cooper concerning the placement of two administrators into our bargaining unit. This personnel action, he ruled, was in violation of the MCCC contract. In 1989 Massasoit Community College assigned the assistant controller the duties of an admissions counselor. Moreover an administrative staff associate was assigned to the position of Director of Testing and Assessment. The chapter grieved these personnel actions by claiming a violation of Article XVI (Filling of Vacancies in the Bargaining Unit). The grievance was denied at Steps I and II and was subsequently certified for arbitration.

During the arbitration, the Union argued that Article XVI requires that vacancies or open positions involving our unit work be posted and filled in accordance with the provisions of the contract. The contract was clearly violated when the college did not post the notice of vacancy, yet filled these two positions.

The college argued that these positions were important jobs to the college and that it could not have filled either position if the employees involved could not "carry" their salaries ($35,191 for Director of Testing and $38,912 for Admissions Counselor) with them since there was no separate funding for these positions. The college argued that Article XVI applies only to "vacancies" and that because there was no "separate and independent funding for the disputed positions" the college had no intention of filling those positions. Therefore, according to the college, there was no "vacancy."

Arbitrator Cooper writes in his decision that, "The issue in this case boils down to whether ... there was 'funding . . . available' and, if so, whether the College 'intended to fill those positions. The 'funding of a position is not some magical circumstance by which someone annoints [sic] 93; a position as 'funded.' Funding simply means that someone is performing the duties assigned to a particular position and is getting paid by the Employer. There is simply no room for any other definition. The college may want to preserve the jobs of each and every employee, but that desire does not mean that the College 'funds' only that employee and the employee owns' those funds. The fact of the matter is that the College has decided that certain work must get done, it has money available to pay for those services and it pays someone to perform that work. When the College pays someone to perform work assigned to a particular job title, it has funds available' [for] that position."

"To define the term 'funding' as the Employer seeks to do in this case completely undermines the collective bargaining agreement. Under the College's theory it could replace all of the faculty with administrators and yet never have a single vacancy for which a posting under Article XVI is required. This would be an absurd result because it would completely wipe out retrenchment rights . . . including recall rights. While the College may claim that under its definition of 'vacancy' there never will be a retrenchment because it will always protect the existing employees, the College simply cannot operate in a vacuum and on the basis of its own system of definitions. The College is party to an agreement which takes a much broader view of its obligations. Thus, using the current case as an example, the College could have laid off [these two] employees ... and posted the bargaining unit positions.... Presumably the posting would have resulted in the application of personnel from throughout the community college system . . . and if there were an applicant who was 'equally best qualified' the applicant who had been retrenched ... would have had the highest priority for the position. While it would certainly have been sad for [these two employees] to be laid off, nevertheless the system would have replaced them with existing bargaining unit employees who were best qualified to do the job and who would otherwise have remained on lay off. The rights of these laid off unit members is precisely what is protected under the terms of the parties' collective bargaining agreement. It is not up to [these two employees] to decide that 'their salary' goes 'with them' and therefore, in effect, they decide whether the positions ... are funded."

"Turning now to the claim that the College had no 'intent' to fill the position[s] because it would not have done so if it meant that [these employees] had to be laid off. In other words, the College's intent was only to fill those positions with existing personnel whose salary the College was already committed to pay. The College's intent cannot be so conditioned. The evidence of intent is dramatically demonstrated by what the College did, not by the President's or the Dean of Administrative Services' own internal thought processes. The College wanted the work of the Director of Testing and Assessment and the Admissions

Counsellor [sic] performed. It assigned personnel to perform those tasks, therefore the College intended to fill those positions."

The arbitrator ruled that the College violated Article X I of the Agreement when it failed to post and fill the vacancies in the positions of Director of Testing and Assessment and Admissions Counsellor.

As a result, the positions of Director of Testing and Assessment and Admissions Counsellor are hereby found to be vacant. The College shall forthwith post and fill those two positions in accordance with Article XVI of the Agreement.

The MCCC has been informed that the College intends to appeal this decision.

MCCC Vacancies On MTA Bulletin The number of vacancies within the community colleges are expanding. You can easily access this information. If you do not have a modem, someone on your campus will. All that is needed is a computer and a Hayes compatible modem. Vacancies can be read directly from the screen, or they can be downloaded and printed at your terminal. The MCCC has now put all MCCC vacancies in the system on the Bulletin Board. If you would like to get on to the Bulletin Board system, dial 1-800-523-8883 (1200 or 2400 baud, 8 data bits; 1 stop, NONE parity.) Follow the prompts. When you first logon, you will be asked a few questions. After that, last and first name and password are all that is needed. Once on the main menu, select [B]. You can now access Community College Vacancies (HIEDVAC). Once on, any questions about bulletin board go to Ron Miller (1-508-653-7244) the SYSop either through the bulletin board or by calling him.

Do You Know Where They Are?

All female faculty and professional staff who are part of the equity suit settlement should have received a correspondence from Attorney Betty A. Gittes. A number of letters, however, have been returned, address unknown. In the next couple of issues of the Newsletter, a list will be printed of women who need to be contacted. If you know anyone knows anyone on this list, please contact her and ask her to call Attorney Gittes at 617-951-0233.

Berkshire:
Jacqueline Arnold; Judith Aronow; Kristina Cimini; Anne Gates; Linda Leeking; Marie Trifone

Bristol:
June F. Manelis; Mychell D. Sneed; Anne Watson; Diana Yarchin, Estate of

Bunker Hill:
Patricia Brown; Henriette Huybregts; Pamela Perkins-Johnson; Marjorie S. Langway; Molly Leong

Cape Cod:
Marie Canaves; Magaret Griffith; Thelma Yarborough

Holyoke:
Leslie Butterworth, Estate of; Virginia F. Johnston; Mary-Jane O'Connor

Massasoit:
Janet Alien; Elizabeth Chisholm; Laureen Fregeau

Mass. Bay:
Ann Marie Clougherty; Sharon H. Dunn; Ann Hilferty; Susan M. Santucci

Middlesex:
Geraldine Dansky; Lisa Lessard; Kristine Perkins

Mt. Wachustt:
an E. Siskind

No. Essex:
Bonnie Neuhardt

No. Shore:
Marion Ahern, Estate of; Linda Boyer; Judith Gray; Marguerite Gerstell; Margaret Niles

Quinsigamond:
Ellyn Bulikowski; Diane Gary

Roxbury:
Josephine Apperwhite; Eleanor Burtman; Carol Camlin; Sharon Phillip; Lourdes Rodriquez; Adrienne Scott

Springfield:
Linda Harrington; Nancy McAuliffe; Susan Warner

NEA Higher Ed Conference in New Orleans

The 1993 NEA Higher Education Conference will be held at the Fairmont Hotel near the French Quarter in New Orleans. Though the conference runs from Friday, February 26 to Sunday, February 28, 1993, the National Council for Higher Education will hold its annual meeting beginning on Thursday evening, February 25 and ending at 1 p.m. on February 26.

Everyone should have received a registration form at home. The registration fee covers the reception and banquet on Friday, lunch on Saturday, brunch on Sunday, and all materials. If you register prior to December 18 the fee is $110; after December 18, the fee is $135. Deadline for registration is January 15, 1993. The hotel rate is $103 per night. If you are interested and need additional information, call Irma Johnson at NEA at 202-822-7162.

DCE Resolutions

• At Northern Essex Community College a DCE unit member, Sister Barbara, was dismissed after a student grievance was filed against her. Not only was she not afforded any due process in this dismissal, the college refused to provide written reasons for the nonreappointment. The college did not provide her an opportunity to respond to the issue nor did it conduct any investigation based on her accounting of the issue. A grievance was filed and when the case reached arbitration, it was resolved. Sister Barbara was paid $6500 and her personnel file was expunged. Any future references will come directly from her personnel file which is very positive. Sister Barbara has resigned and severed her employment with No. Essex and is now teaching at a private college.

• At Mass. Bay Community College another case was settled prior to arbitration. This case concerned a unit member who had been teaching from 1974 to 1991 in the psychology and sociology work areas. In 1991 he was not reappointed because the college claimed he did not meet the seniority pool threshold in the individual work areas. The union's position is that a unit member meets the threshold with five courses over three years at the college. This issue was finally resolved, and the grievant was placed on the seniority list in both the psychology and sociology work areas. He will be reappointed for the spring 1993 semester and will receive $1,750 compensation.

Mark Your Calendars for Deadlines
Jan. 8	Deadline to apply to run as a statewide delegate to NEA Representative Assembly from higher education district. Application in December edition of MTA Today.
Jan. 15	Deadline to register for NEA Higher Education Conference in New Orleans February 26-28, 1993.
Feb. 1	Deadline to submit proposed changes to MCCC Constitution and Bylaws.
Feb. 1	Deadline to apply for full- and part-time day negotiating team.
Mar. 1	Deadline to apply for DCE negotiating team.

Early Retirement Bill Filed

An early retirement bill has been released from the Public Service Committee. In its present form, it is nearly identical to the bill which passed for other state employees last year. The one difference is that this bill allows the institutions to fill all positions vacated through this early retirement bill if the positions are deemed essential and critical and appear on a list submitted to the public service and education committees by the secretary of education. Specifics of the bill are:

• Application between January 15, 1993, and March 1, 1993, with retirement effective June 30, 1993;
• Applications accepted on a first come, first served basis;
• Maximum number of applications will be 600 (The original number was 1500, but when the bill was put into final print the number changed from 1500 to 600. The lobbyists were told that it was a mistake and would be corrected);
• Five years of service, five years on age or a combination of service and age not to exceed five years;

There is continued resistance by Administration and Finance to accept this bill since it is not revenue neutral. Amendments will be made to how the institutions pay the cost of retirement and health insurance costs.

Day Negotiating Team Vacancies

Applications are now being accepted for the MCCC Negotiating Team for the 1993-1996 day (full-time and part-time day employees) contract. Anyone interested in applying for the team should include the following information in his or her resume and cover letter:

1. Union experience at chapter and/or statewide level Academic background
2. Bargaining experience
3. Chapter activities
4. Knowledge and understanding of labor relations

Applicants should bear in mind that attendance at the Negotiations Track at the MTA Summer Leadership Conference at Williams College, August 9-13, 1993, may be required of all team members.

Applications must be postmarked no later than February 1, 1993, and mailed to: Tom Parsons, MCCC President

Know Your Contract

Dec. 18	Faculty submit College Service (E4) and Student Advisement (E5) forms
Dec. 23	Student evaluation summary to part-time faculty
Dec. 28	Teaching assignments to part-time faculty
Dec. 30	Professional staff submit College Service (E4) and Student (E5) Advisement forms
Jan. 15	First year professional staff E4 and E5 evaluation due
Jan. 15	Professional staff work performance evaluation due
Jan. 15	Part-time faculty (third year) summary evaluation
Jan. 20	Faculty E4 and E5 evaluations due
Jan. 23	Student evaluation summary (E6) due to faculty

N.B. Dates may vary depending on first day of classes. Also, most of these dates are "last date" standards. In many instances, the action can he accomplished before the date indicated.