A state-wide grievance over the way colleges are determining the pay levels of new hires is being pursued by Dennis Fitzgerald, MCCC Day Grievance Coordinator. The classification system that the MCCC fought hard for and waited years to have completed and implemented has very specific criteria for setting the salaries of faculty and staff. Fitzgerald has discovered that colleges are completely ignoring the system and others are merely "eyeballing" the credentials of new hires to decide what to pay them.
Information has been received from the majority of colleges in the system showing the names of recently hired faculty and staff, the salaries they were hired at and their M002 or M004 forms (the forms called for in the Classification Study) if they were filled out- if not, then the member's degrees and prior experience. Recently hired unit members are being notified by their HR departments that the union is requesting the information. These members should not feel that the grievance is being directed at them-it is directed at the colleges for not paying new hires at the appropriate salary level. It is essential to maintain the integrity of the classification system. Although the classification of professional staff unit members is complicated, the system for faculty is very simple. But protocols for all positions have been negotiated and should be followed.
The union is concerned that the classification system will begin to fall apart and the gains made through the system in exchange for teaching the fifth course will be lost.