2015-2017 CBA Tentative Agreement Reached! UFE Digest, Full Contract & Voting Dates

Updated Nov. 21. 2015. Voting is completed! The 2015-17 CBA has been ratified by the UFE membership, the TESC administration and the Board of Trustees.

Highlights of the contract (digest) are described below. You can also download and read the entire contract at: https://www.ufevergreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/UFE_Full-Contract_10-16-2015.pdf.

DIGEST: CBA SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS

Article 32: Duration. This agreement is a two-year contract with several significant changes. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will be in effect retroactive to September 1, 2015 with ratification by the UFE Members and the Evergreen Board of Trustees.

Article 12: Compensation. There is an across-the-board salary increase of 3% in each year of this two-year agreement. Salary steps will be maintained, and the salary grid at the top is extended to 60 years.

Article 6: Professional Responsibilities. This article has some modifications to the teaching partners requirement and a new section on waivers that provides more flexibility in curriculum planning. Section 6.3.4 on team teaching requirements still requires regular faculty to teach with five partners of over 15 quarters, but changes the number of “different teaching partners” from 5 to 3. The new section on waivers provides faculty with a process for applying for a waiver from both team teaching requirements and from expectations for teaching at all levels in the curriculum.

The Academic Statement Initiative, including orientation week participation, is moved to article 6.

Article 7: Faculty Teaching Load. The credit hour policy and student retention initiative are now outlined in this article. The class size reduction initiative is in effect through 2017-18, with changes in program eligibility that affect the planning cycle in 2015-16.

Article 8: Scope of Faculty Work. There are sections added that address commitments for faculty teaching in graduate programs.

Article 10: Adjunct Faculty Review and Reappointment. Major changes have been made in the criteria and process for awarding of Multi-Year Contracts. For specific details regarding eligibility and the application process (due Feb. 1, 2016), please see Article 10.1-10.6 . Multi-Year Contracts currently in effect will not change. An ongoing transition policy has been added for half-time faculty in EWS who teach in teams. It is estimated that up to six regular half-time positions may be created in this policy. (This is in addition to the EWS Transition Policy for Long-Term Adjunct Faculty, signed as a separate MOU.) The timing of adjunct faculty reviews has been adjusted, and the review of adjunct faculty teaching in graduate programs has been clarified.

Adjunct faculty members who have taught for at least 30 quarters over twelve years shall be granted a semi-finalist interview for any regular faculty position for which they meet the minimum qualifications.

Criteria and Process for Awarding Multi-Year Contracts (MYC). Faculty voice is added to making recommendations on multiyear contracts. Planning Units shall develop recommendations for areas where the curriculum would be strengthened by the award of multi-year contracts for adjunct faculty. Recommendations include length, need and load. Based on these recommendations, the Deans will develop a list of areas for offering multi-year contracts. Eligible adjunct faculty will apply for multi-year contracts. All applications for multi-year contracts will be reviewed by a MYC Review Committee, including five faculty selected by the Agenda Committee, which will make recommendations to the Deans for awarding MYCs. The application deadline is Feb. 1, 2016. The College will offer MYCs by the end of winter quarter. Deans will inform the MYC Review Committee in writing of their rationale, should the awards differ from the recommendations. No MYCs will be granted automatically based on length of employment.

Memorandum of Understanding: EWS Transition Policy. Adjunct faculty who have an advanced degree, who have completed 6 quarters of team-teaching, and who have either taught for 30 quarters over twelve years or completed at least two multi-year contracts teaching at least half-time in a program shall be eligible to apply for a half-time regular faculty position in the EWS program. The College shall hire up to six regular half-time faculty through this process during 2015-16. If fewer than six shall be hired, any unfilled half-time positions shall remain open and recruited during the 2016-17 hiring process or thereafter until filled.

Article 11: Regular Faculty Appointment, Reappointment and Conversion. There is a change in notification of faculty. Notification by certified mail is deleted.

Article 14: Medical and Other Leaves. There are substantive improvements in medical leave for adjunct faculty members who teach more than one quarter in a given year. Other changes clarify policy on various types of leave for all faculty members, including compassionate leave and family medical leave.

Article 15: Eligibility for Professional Development Opportunities. Two requirements are added addressing the submission of curriculum proposals and final syllabi and covenants.

Article 17: Faculty Development and Travel. Summer Institutes will be funded with $35,000 in 2016 and $50,000 in 2017. Faculty travel budget limit of $100,000 is eliminated. Eligibility for travel funds is clarified. A new category of professional travel is in place for faculty members who promote Evergreen Pedagogical Innovations or Curricular Initiatives.

Article 24: Grievance Procedure. The submission of grievances and the grievance process have some minor clarifications.

Article 26. UFE Rights. The right to enact a representation fee is added.

All other current collective bargaining agreement language remains status quo or is slightly edited for the next two years.

In solidarity,

The UFE Bargaining Team: John Baldridge, Stephen Beck, Jon Davies, Grace Huerta, Al Josephy, Laurie Meeker and Gary McNeil.

_______________________________________

Updated Oct. 14-25, 2015. Thank you for casting your ballot. Stay tuned for news updates here. Voting on the 2015-17 Tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement took place on the following dates:

Wednesday, Oct. 21: 3-4 Following the UFE Ratification Mtg (1-3) — Sem2 A1107

Wednesday, Oct. 21: 5-6 p.m. After the Faculty Mtg — Sem2 B1105 Foyer

Thursday, Oct. 22: 11-12:30 CAB—2nd floor across from Flaming Egg Plant Office

Thursday, Oct. 22: 5-6 CAB—2nd floor across from Flaming Egg Plant Office

Friday, Oct. 23: 12-1 CAB—2nd floor across from Flaming Egg Plant Office

Saturday, Oct. 24: 12-1 CAB—2nd floor across from Flaming Egg Plant Office

Wednesday, Oct. 28: 1:30-3 Sem2 A1107–All Faculty Contract Education Forum. You are all invited to attend.

BACKGROUND. In 2015, the TESC management and the UFE Bargaining Team began negotiations on the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which expired on August 31. Negotiations started slowly due to the inability of the Washington Legislature to achieve a state budget. The bargaining teams worked to problem solve a number of issues. Subcommittees from each team worked together to explore interests, ideas and common language. Bargaining was intense, yet productive, in several areas. UFE began the bargain with three priorities:

Increased salary compensation, especially to base faculty salaries. As you may recall, the UFE agreed to a one-year contract last year without a salary increase due to the Administration’s data showing decreased student enrollment;
Improved academic resources such as summer institutes, travel, sabbaticals; flexibility in meeting team teaching requirements and expectations in all levels of the curriculum; and recruitment and retention of students through lower class sizes; and,
Respect and better working conditions for adjunct and part-time faculty who have long experience and success at Evergreen.

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 a tentative agreement was reached. The UFE and the TESC Bargaining Teams strongly recommend a YES vote on the tentative agreement described briefly below. You can also download and read the entire contract at: https://www.ufevergreen.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/UFE_Full-Contract_10-16-2015.pdf.

RATIFICATION PROCESS

The Ratification Meeting with the General Membership was held on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 from 1-3 p.m. in Sem2 A1107.

As part of our ratification procedures, the CBA is ratified by a vote of the UFE membership and the TESC Board of Trustees. The UFE is moving to have the ratification vote next week, Oct. 21-24 (followed by the Board of Trustees vote in November).

The UFE Bargaining Team discussed and fielded questions regarding the tentative agreement at the ratification meeting on Oct. 21. UFE members voted to ratify agreements through an up or down vote on the entire CBA. New members could sign up at the door and are eligible to vote. Voting started directly after the ratification meeting.

Additional polling and new member sign-up continue on: Thursday, October 22; Friday, October 23, and; Saturday, October 24 in the CAB. Please check this website above (https://www.ufevergreen.org/) and UFE email communications for specific times.

The UFE ratification vote was tallied on Sunday, October 25. The Board of Board of Trustees will conduct their own ratification vote. Upon ratification by both ratifying bodies, the parties will sign the new agreement.

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES TO SAVE

UFE General Membership Mtg., Friday, Oct. 30, 5-7 p.m. Sem2-A1107

UFE Social & Pot Luck, Friday, Nov. 6 from 5-7 p.m.–Grace Huerta & Leslie Flemmer’s home, 1240 Arcadia St. NW, Oly, 98502

DIGEST: CBA SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS

Article 32: Duration. This agreement is a two-year contract with several significant changes. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will be in effect retroactive to 1 September 2015 upon ratification by the UFE Members and the Evergreen Board of Trustees.

The Academic Statement Initiative, including orientation week participation, is moved to article 6.

Article 8: Scope of Faculty Work. There are sections added that address commitments for faculty teaching in graduate programs.

Article 11: Regular Faculty Appointment, Reappointment and Conversion. There is a change in notification of faculty. Notification by certified mail is deleted.

Article 15: Eligibility for Professional Development Opportunities. Two requirements are added addressing the submission of curriculum proposals and final syllabi and covenants.

Article 24: Grievance Procedure. The submission of grievances and the grievance process have some minor clarifications.

Article 26. UFE Rights. The right to enact a representation fee is added.

Article 10: Adjunct Faculty Review and Reappointment. A major change has been made in the criteria and process for awarding of Multi-Year Contracts (see below). Multi-Year Contracts currently in effect will not change. An ongoing transition policy has been added for half-time faculty in EWS who teach in teams. It is estimated that up to six regular half-time positions may be created in this policy. (This is in addition to the EWS Transition Policy for Long-Term Adjunct Faculty, signed as a separate MOU.) The timing of adjunct faculty reviews has been adjusted, and the review of adjunct faculty teaching in graduate programs has been clarified.

Criteria and Process for Awarding Multi-Year Contracts (MYC). Faculty voice is added to making recommendations on multiyear contracts. Planning Units shall develop recommendations for areas where the curriculum would be strengthened by the award of multi-year contracts for adjunct faculty. Recommendations include length, need and load. Based on these recommendations, the Deans will develop a list of areas for offering multi-year contracts. Eligible adjunct faculty will apply for multi-year contracts. All applications for multi-year contracts will be reviewed by a MYC Review Committee, including five faculty selected by the Agenda Committee, which will make recommendations to the Deans for awarding MYCs. The College will offer MYCs by the end of winter quarter. Deans will inform the MYC Review Committee in writing of their rationale, should the awards differ from the recommendations. No MYCs will be granted automatically based on length of employment.

Memorandum of Understanding: EWS Transition Policy. Adjunct faculty who have an advanced degree, who have completed 6 quarters of team-teaching, and who have either taught for 30 quarters over twelve years or completed at least two multi-year contracts teaching at least half-time in a program shall be eligible to apply for a half-time regular faculty position in the EWS program. The College shall hire up to six regular half-time faculty through this process during 2015-16. If fewer than six shall be hired, the remaining positions shall be filled during 2016-17.

All other current collective bargaining agreement language remains status quo or is slightly edited for the next two years.

The UFE Bargaining Team strongly recommends a YES vote.

In solidarity,

The UFE Bargaining Team: John Baldridge, Stephen Beck, Jon Davies, Grace Huerta, Al Josephy, Laurie Meeker and Gary McNeil.

________________________________

Updated Sept. 15, 2015. As you return to Evergreen for the 2015-2016 academic year, the UFE Bargaining Team would like to update you on the status of the bargain. We have been meeting with the Administration over the past two weeks to resolve remaining issues. We hope to achieve a tentative agreement in the fall quarter. We appreciate your support during this bargain.

Due to the multiple Special Sessions of the Washington Legislature and scheduling conflicts with both teams, bargaining was limited during much of the summer. While the UFE bargaining team did meet this summer, the delayed ratification of an actual state budget was not conducive to achieving resolution of several issues. Although the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has an expiration date of August 31, 2015, both the Administration and Union bargaining teams agreed that the current CBA would remain in effect until a new one is negotiated and ratified.

Bargaining has been based on problem-solving various issues. Subcommittees from each team have worked together to explore mutual interests, ideas and common language. This process has been both practical and purposeful.

The UFE began the bargain with three priorities:

1) Increase salary compensation to base faculty salaries. As you know, the UFE agreed to a one-year contract last year without a salary increase due to the Administration’s data showing decreased student enrollment;

2) Improve working conditions and respect for adjunct and part-time faculty who have long experience and success at delivering a needed curriculum at Evergreen;

3) Enhance academic resources such as summer institutes, travel, and sabbaticals; create flexibility in meeting expectations in teaching across disciplines and first-year students; and recruit and retain students through lower class sizes.

We will keep you updated as bargaining progresses. Thank you for your support.

Jon Davies, Bargaining Chair

John Baldridge, Stephen Beck, Grace Huerta, Al Josephy, Gary McNeil, Laurie Meeker, UFE Bargaining Team

___________________

Updated June 8, 2015. Greeting UFE members. Thank you for attending our negotiation update meetings on June 3 & 5. We recognize this is a very busy time of the year. At the meetings we discussed the union’s key negotiation priorities based on the feedback we received from you, our members. The bargaining team also fielded questions, reviewed the UFE budget, and exchanged ideas about planning future organizing activities.

Here’s an update of where we currently are in the negotiation process. Due to the ongoing legislative session, the College administration and the UFE have agreed to suspend bargaining until the extended session is complete. Key UFE topics include the following:

1) We continually strive for compensation increases;

2) We seek ways to enhance and protect the faculty working conditions that support the Evergreen academic mission of interdisciplinary, team teaching;

3) We are exploring several issues on adjunct job security, as well as the recognition of the academic work adjuncts contribute to Evergreen;

4) We are considering a contract longer than a year in duration;

5) Until a new agreement is approved, the current contract is in effect (i.e. status quo).

If we are still bargaining in the fall, we need your support. In order to keep you informed about the details of the tentative agreement and ratification vote (as recommended by the UFE Coordinating Committee and the Stewards), we need your accurate contact information. Please send us your current cell or home number AND non-TESC email address to Laurie Meeker at meekerl@earthlink.net (even if you think we already have it).

In the meantime, we will keep you posted about the progress of negotiations when they resume.

Grace Huerta, UFE Chair

___________

Updated May 20-28, 2015. Your bargaining team continued its extensive contract negotiations with the College this month and will proceed through June. In order to brief union members about these contract proceedings, we will hold two membership meetings. Please plan to attend either one of the following dates: Wednesday, June 3 from 12-1 p.m. in Sem 2A-1105 OR Friday, June 5 from 5-6 p.m. in Sem 2A-1107.

As a reminder, I am also writing to invite your participation as a steward during the next academic year, 2015-16. As you may or may not be aware, serving the United Faculty of Evergreen is a governance assignment. Stewards are faculty representatives of the UFE. They meet with faculty, exchange and share ideas, concerns and problem-solving strategies specific to our working conditions. Stewards also work in solidarity with our other campus unions and community-based organizations. I invite you to serve as a union steward.

The UFE represents all Evergreen faculty members in matters relating to the terms and conditions of our employment. Through the process of collective bargaining, we need your help to protect and enhance the unique traditions that have earned Evergreen a prominent place among the nation’s public and liberal arts colleges.

What are some issues the union is currently facing?

UFE priorities are determined through bargaining surveys and through one-on-one conversations (led by our stewards) with faculty members from across the College. Current issues of concern include:

Pay increases that acknowledge increases in cost of living
Job security and pay equity for adjuncts and part-time faculty
Workload issues and teaching conditions (i.e. teaching partner waivers)
Maintaining class size
Protecting and improving sabbatical access
Curriculum oversight, including the restoration of PUC release time
Enhancing Evergreen through the recruitment and retention of diverse students and faculty

Therefore, as we currently engage in our collective bargaining process, we continue to need your support and participation. I invite you to consider serving as a union steward as your governance assignment next fall. Please email me (gracehue@gmail.com) if you are interested in fulfilling this important governance role.

Sinceramente,

Grace C. Huerta

UFE Chair

________________________

Updated May 5, 2015. Collective bargaining continues with administration as we review contract language throughout the spring quarter. The UFE Bargaining Team is moving forward in their analysis of issues specific to faculty working conditions, across-the-board compensation, faculty development, planning unit support, and ongoing work in support of adjunct/part-time faculty equity. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue the negotiation process.

Updated Feb. 23, 2015. Honor National Adjunct Action Week! Feb. 23-27!

National Mobilization for Equity (NME), a national coalition of unions and other organizations representing over 7 million members, endorses National Adjunct Action Week (NAAW), which takes place across the country from Feb. 23-27, 2015. The NME and the UFE support collective action throughout this week. Adjuncts and allies will develop strategies to end the exploitation of contingent academic labor in higher education nationwide.

This week at Evergreen you can also show your support. A group of continuing and adjunct faculty are planning an event in conjunction with National Adjunct Action Week. On Wednesday, February 25th, following adjournment of the faculty meeting outside of Sem 2 B1105, we invite all faculty to show their support by having your picture taken with colleagues, both continuing and adjunct faculty, and create signs to express their support and solidarity.

Some of you received a “Our Part Time Faculty Are Full Time Awesome” button at our Feb. 13 UFE Social. Please wear your button on Wednesday as a conversation starter. If you didn’t receive one, we’ll make sure a button finds your mailbox. Email williamson.elizabeth@gmail.com with your request.

Please plan to stay after the faculty meeting, or just come by to show your support for this solidarity event, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25th outside Sem 2 B1105. Bring a colleague with you!

___________________________

Feb. 16, 2015. Rally & UFE Social Update

Thank you for attending the UFE Social and Tamale night! We had a great turn-out! Fun times & great discussions. We shared ideas on such topics as TESC’s Presidential Search Deliberations, the National Adjunct Action Week (Feb. 23-27, for more info see: http://nationalmobilizationforequity.org/action/) and next Friday’s Washington State Labor Council, Labor Rally (Feb 20–12-3 p.m. Capitol Steps). We hope you can participate in these upcoming events.

To those of you who were unable to attend the social, please join us at our next social in the spring (Friday, May 1, 2015 from 5-7. Location TBA).

Grace Huerta. UFE Chair.

_____________________________

Updated Feb. 4, 2015. HOW ARE WE, THE UFE, DOING?

The United Faculty of Evergreen (UFE), represents all Evergreen faculty members in matters relating to the terms and conditions of our employment. Through the process of collective bargaining, we work to protect and enhance the unique traditions that have earned Evergreen a prominent place among the nation’s public and liberal arts colleges. The UFE was formed when we as the faculty voted to affiliate with the Washington branches of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers in 2006.

What are some of the gains and initiatives we’ve made since 2006?

12.5% wage increase for all faculty in 2008-10, plus additional pay increases for adjunct faculty
5.5% wage increase for all faculty in 2013-14
Protection of faculty role as equal partners, with the administration, in governing the College
Strong grievance procedure, including due process rights for all faculty members
Expansion of parental leave to include all parents, regardless of gender
Expansion of medical leave for adjunct faculty
Increased job security for adjunct faculty through the establishment of multi-year contracts
One-time conversion of 5 long-time adjunct faculty members to regular status
Increase in professional development funds
Protection of sabbatical lines
Protection of class sizes, and reduction in the student-faculty ratio for first-year students starting in 2012
Restoration of summer institute funding in 2014
The creation of The UFE Memorial Fund, honor of our founding UFE faculty members, Jose Gomez and Zahid Shariff
Ongoing support of the UFE Scholarship Fund

What are some issues the union is currently facing?

UFE priorities are determined through bargaining surveys and through one-on-one conversations with faculty members from across the College. Current issues of concern include:

Taking an active role in TESC’s presidential search
Job security and pay equity for adjuncts
Pay increases that acknowledge increases in cost of living
Maintaining class size
Protecting and improving sabbatical access
Workload issues, including governance overload
The enforcement of teaching requirements
Enhancing Evergreen’s diversity through Latina/o recruitment and retention
Curriculum oversight, including the restoration of PUC release time

Where are we now?

We successfully ratified a one-year contract last spring.
Our current contract includes changes to the grievance procedure (designed to make this process more effective) and $50K for 2014 summer institutes.
We also established joint committees on adjunct issues and the curricular cohort model—the point of these committees is to reinforce the role of the union as legal equal with the administration, and to flesh out some key issues before we get begin bargaining, which will likely start again this spring.
In the meantime, as a way of providing a positive response to the enrollment shortfall, UFE leaders are moving ahead with the Latina/o student recruitment and retention initiative. This initiative also represents our commitment as a union to keeping social justice at the heart of our teaching and governance work.

Can we really ask for a raise given the College’s financial situation?

It’s a tough negotiating climate for unions across the state, but here at Evergreen our classified staff colleagues just won a 3% raise, and our sister campuses have recently won a string of wage increases of between 3 and 5% per year. The College administration continues to spend money on things it values; we believe that improving faculty working conditions should be one of those values.

How can I get involved?

Our ability to preserve Evergreen’s unique academic mission depends on creating strong, visible solidarity between all faculty members. Joining the union by paying dues and participating in UFE events sends a signal to the College administration that you care about your working conditions and your fellow faculty. Members can vote on key policy and budget issues, and can run for office in elections held every two years. Holding a union office, including being a member of our stewards’ council, also counts as faculty governance. For more information, e-mail: Grace Huerta (chair): gracehue@gmail.com and/or Elizabeth Williamson (stewards coordinator): williamson.elizabeth@gmail.com.

_______________________

Updated Fall, 2014. CBA Ratified! The TESC Board of Trustees and the UFE ratified the 2014-15 Tentative Agreement on June 12, 2014. We look forward to working positively with the College next fall as we follow through on the adjunct/part-time (APT) faculty and curriculum cohort model (CCM) study groups, particularly as they relate to faculty working conditions, student recruitment and retention, and shared governance.

Also, the UFE election has been completed. Garnering over 90% of the membership vote, the 2014-16 Coordinating Committee (as of July 1) consists of: Grace Huerta, Chair; Jon Davies, Vice-Chair; Liza Rognas, Treasurer; Laurie Meeker, Communications; Elizabeth Williamson, Stewards Coordinator; and At-Large Representatives: Stephen Beck and Al Josephy.

Also elected were UFE Stewards Council members: John Baldridge, Stephen Beck, Savvina Chowdhury, Jon Davies, Marla Elliott, Judith Gabriele, Anne Fischel, Grace Huerta, Al Josephy, Cynthia Kennedy, Paul McMillin, Laurie Meeker, Carolyn Prouty, Liza Rognas, Martha Rosemeyer, Arlene Sandifer, Rebecca Sunderman, Michael Vavrus, Richard Weiss, Elizabeth Williamson, Greg Mullins, David Wolach, Anthony Zaragoza, Peter Bohmer, Peter Bacho.

On July 8, 2014, UFE members met with the United Faculty of WA State Coordinating Council in Seattle. The council, comprised of faculty union leadership from Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University and Western Washington University discussed federal, state and local trends regarding state higher education funding, collaboration with administration, and most importantly, student support strategies.

See Faculty CBA here: CBA14_15

On July 9-10 and July 16-17, the Latina/o Student Retention and Outreach Faculty Institutes launched. The focus of this initiative, first introduced by the UFE during our Spring 2014 bargaining sessions, seeks to develop a strategic plan to support and retain Latina/o students at Evergreen. Topics include: the historical context of TESC Latina/o retention and outreach efforts, understanding Latina/o students; identifying best practices among Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) of higher education; designing culturally relevant teaching strategies and critical pedagogy, and developing collaborations with TESC student support services, K-12 schools, and our local communities.

Lastly, the UFE Union School II is in the works, with a planning team led by Elizabeth Williamson, Anne Fischel and Carolyn Prouty. Save the dates–September 3-4. Stay tuned for specific times and agenda.

THANK YOU everyone for your service to our union. This is not easy work, but your efforts to support one another and our students is certainly valued.

________________________________

Updated June 10, 2014. Hi colleagues. It’s not too late to vote! Voting continues TODAY, Tuesday, June 10 from 10-1 in the CAB Lobby (across from the info desk). Just stop by, as we will have ballots there. This voting period proceeds the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, June 12 where the Trustees consider the ratification vote.

Visit the UFE website at: https://www.ufevergreen.org/ for an overview of the TA (i.e. digest: 2014 CBA Digest_FIN ). The entire Agreement is also available for your review here: CBA14-15.

Mil gracias,

Grace Huerta, UFE Communications

______________________________

Updated June 4, 2014. The UFE Coordinating Committee and Stewards Council reviewed and discussed the 2014-15 Tentative Agreement on June 4. Both groups voted unanimously to ratify the one-year Agreement. The Agreement will now be discussed at our UFE Membership Meeting on Friday, June 6 from 5-7 p.m. in Sem II-B1107. Voting by the membership begins directly after the meeting and continues in the CAB Lobby (across from the Info Desk) on Saturday, June 7 from 12-2; Monday, June 9 from 4-6; and Tuesday, June 9 from 10-1. An overview of the Tentative Agreement (i.e. digest: 2014 CBA Digest_FIN ), as well as the entire Agreement are available for your review here: CBA14-15.

PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND YOUR MEMBERSHIP MEETING AND VOTE!

______________________________________________

BREAKING NEWS: Tentative Agreement Reached on CBA 2014-15. June 2-3. The UFE Bargaining Team has reached a tentative agreement on a one-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. The agreement goes into effect upon ratification by the UFE membership and the Board of Trustees. It will remain in effect until Aug. 31, 2015. The Bargaining Team has created a Digest (Summary and Highlights) for your review. See the following link: 2014 CBA Digest_FIN . The full text of the new CBA can be found here: CBA14-15.

During the bargain, members of the administration presented information to the UFE team regarding significantly lower student enrollments, resulting in lower revenues. As a result, the parties agreed to approach the bargain in a more modest fashion.

A highlight of the contract is a new Summer Institute model to be funded with $50,000 providing up to four days of paid Summer Institute work for each faculty member. These institutes provide faculty with institutional support to strengthen the curriculum and collegial connections and to address student recruitment and retention.

In addition, there were two important areas of mutual interest that required further discussion and future negotiations, scheduled for next winter. To that end, both parties agreed to create two important joint UFE-administrative committees. The first is to explore a Curricular Cohort Model (CCM): the committee will study the CCM proposed by TESC at the bargaining table and includes opportunities for widespread consideration among the faculty at large. The CCM proposes to provide faculty an alternative for what are now individual responsibilities for team teaching and teaching students at all levels. The CCM provides faculty with the opportunity to organize into groups that would cover introductory, intermediate, and advanced curriculum.

The second joint committee will address adjunct and part-time regular faculty issues, including but not limited to, long-term adjunct faculty transition, review, portfolio, and compensation. The committee will make recommendations by mid-winter quarter to the respective bargaining teams to consider in either a MOU or upcoming bargain.

The ratification process is also spelled out in our UFE bylaws. The Bargaining Team recommends ratification to the Coordinating Committee and Stewards Council who are scheduled to meet on Wednesday June 4 from 4-5pm in COM 308. Then, the Tentative Agreement is discussed at a Membership Meeting, scheduled for Friday June 6 from 5-7pm in SemII B1107. Voting begins directly after the meeting and will continue Saturday through Tuesday. Check the website for polling places which will be posted soon. Ratification of the TA will occur if there is an affirmative vote by a majority of UFE members voting within the voting deadline. The new CBA will go into effect when the UFE membership and TESC Board of Trustees have ratified and signed the document.

Special thanks goes to all the members of the UFE Bargaining Team for their hard work and perseverance in difficult times, and very special thanks goes to Gary McNeil for his leadership and judgment. The UFE Bargaining Team includes: Jon Davies, John Baldridge, Al Josephy, Grace Huerta, Laurie Meeker, Stephen Beck and Gary McNeil.

We will be bargaining again next year and look forward to your continued support.

Jon Davies, UFE Bargaining Team Chair

_______________________________________

Bargaining Update: May 28-Sunday, June 1, 2014. Bargaining continued late Sunday night, June 1, as your team presented counter offers to the administration. Given the enrollment and budgetary concerns of the college, we have offered numerous problem-solving strategies to confront these issues, as well as suggested ideas for strategic investments specific to faculty development. The team also continued to address such topics as: summer institutes, adjunct job security and medical leave, the senior faculty salary grid, as well as planning unit and curriculum concerns, to name a few. Bargaining continues on Monday, June 2. A membership meeting and ratification are forthcoming, we hope, very soon. So stay tuned.

On another note, please make sure to vote! Ballots were mailed to UFE members last week. According to UFE By-laws, they need to be postmarked by June 2.

Thanks so much everyone for your engagement with many complex issues impacting our campus, our students, and staff this quarter and year. Onward we go!

_____________________________________________

Membership Mtg Update: May 18, 2014. Thank you all for attending our membership meeting on May 16. There is never a dull moment! We provided a bargaining update and highlighted the struggles when addressing the priorities you–the faculty–identified in our guild card campaign.

By this, we refer to the priorities you reported to us: adjunct equity/multi-year contracts (i.e. transitional policy, historical workloads, transparency of the hiring process); faculty development (i.e. institutes, planning unit support, sabbaticals, conference travel); compensation and workload concerns (curriculum support, teaching partners and governance responsibilities); as well as the need for a transparent, dual career accommodation policy. Many of these issues we have researched extensively, and yet, we have not had the opportunity to discuss them at the table. Why? We have sought to be responsive to the College’s enrollment concerns.

During this membership meeting, UFE president Laurie Meeker and VP Jon Davies provided a detailed analysis of the issues at hand. They noted the UFE’s approach to problem solving when addressing enrollment issues while at the same time, striving to address faculty priorities. This is illustrated by our Latina/o Outreach and Retention proposal (see: UFE-Latin@-Initiative-2). In this initiative, the UFE proposes that the College support a Latina/o student outreach and retention initiative by generating a long-term strategic plan and infrastructure that includes the faculty as a major partner in this effort. Such efforts also reflect the data collected during our guild card campaign where faculty prioritized such interests as: adjunct job security, ongoing professional development for faculty (i.e. institutes), and curriculum planning support (i.e. planning unit coordinators). It is through this initiative, among others, that we hope to address some of these targets.

Other issues addressed at the meeting included gathering members’ responses to administrative proposals, organizing our upcoming election proceedings, and Union Summer School II planning (tentative dates include a two-day session on Sept. 2-3). Members will receive more information about all of these issues, particularly the bargaining session, very soon.

At present, we are in need of candidates for stewards, as well as organizers for the Summer Union School. Please email Elizabeth Williamson (for stewards) or Anne Fischel (Union School organizers) if you are willing to serve or have a recommendation or questions. Thank you for your support.

Grace Huerta, UFE Communications.

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Updated May 5, 2014. SAVE THE DATE for our UFE Membership Meeting on Fri. May 16, from 5-7 p.m. in Sem II C1107. Agenda items will include: a bargaining update, a discussion of the election process, and planning for our upcoming UFE summer school. Light refreshments will be provided. Please join us!

Bargaining continues this month with an emphasis on enrollment changes and possible strategies to address them. This urgency has impacted our negotiations and collaborations with administration. (For example, see the recommendations by Dr. Theresa Aragon’s 2010 report regarding Latina/o student recruitment and retention issues: Hispanic_Latina_o Student TESC Report_Aragon). Nevertheless, we are especially mindful of the faculty data and feedback UFE stewards collected during our fall “Guild Card” campaign. This data helped inform our bargaining priorities (which were shared at our Jan. 31 membership meeting and during the April 9 faculty meeting). These priorities include: the need for adjunct equity; multiyear contracts; faculty development (i.e. sabbaticals, conference travel); dual career accommodations, and compensation and workload (curriculum support, teaching partners and governance responsibilities).

Other news: the UFE will soon be holding elections for new officers in June. We invite you to SERVE YOUR UNION. Please feel free to send names of nominees for such leadership positions and stewards to Laurie Meeker: meekerl@earthlink.net.

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Fall–Winter quarter update. In preparation for collective bargaining (which began on March 3, 2014) over 135 faculty conversations were conducted and guild cards were collected by our UFE stewards. During the fall and winter campaign, 70% of the TESC faculty provided feedback. Issues emanating from this data informed our bargaining preparations These topics included: adjunct equity, faculty professional development, compensation, workload, meeting professional responsibilities (i.e. teaching partners and core) and dual career accommodation policies.

During our January 31, 2014 forum, UFE chair Laurie Meeker also announced the members of the 2014 Collective bargaining team. “Team Green” includes: John Baldridge (Half-Time, Regular Faculty Member); Stephen Beck (Adjunct Faculty Member); Jon Davies (Full-Time, Regular Faculty Member; Grad Programs; Bargaining Team Chair); Grace Huerta (Full-Time, Regular Faculty Member); Al Josephy (Adjunct Faculty Member); Gary McNeil (WA Educators Association, Lead Negotiator, Higher Education) and; Laurie Meeker (Full-Time Regular Faculty Member; UFE Chair).

Stay tuned to your stewards for updates as the team engages in this important work in behalf of the faculty.

Grace Huerta, UFE Communications.

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ALL Faculty/UFE Collective Bargaining Forum_Jan. 31 From 5-7 p.m. in Sem 2-C1107!

Updated Jan. 16, 2014. The UFE will be hosting an all-faculty collective bargaining forum on Friday, January 31 from 5-7 in Sem 2 C1107. The purpose of this forum is introduce the 2014 Bargaining Team and to discuss the bargaining process. This forum will serve as a kick-off to the bargaining of our next contract. We invite your feedback, questions and ideas regarding our working conditions at Evergreen. Stay tuned for more information about our forum.

“Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

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eForum on the Working Conditions of Contingent Faculty in Higher Education

Updated Dec. 18, 2013. The Honorable George Miller (CA-D), Senior Democrat, Committee on Education and the Workforce, is collecting the stories of contingent faculty (and former contingent faculty) in higher education. The committee wants to hear your stories and invites your participation in an eForum.

The eForum, described briefly below, can be found at: http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/eforum

The deadline to submit your story is this Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. Selected stories, or excerpts, will be published online. Names will not be published without your permission. Here is a general description of the eForum:

Even while college tuition has soared, reports point to the growing use of low-paid contingent faculty and instructors in higher education. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats are interested in learning more about the working conditions of the over one million contingent faculty and instructors at U.S. institutions of higher education, including part-time adjunct professors and graduate teaching assistants, and how those working conditions may impact students’ education. We are seeking comments from contingent faculty and instructors and their representatives on some or all of the following questions:

• For how long have you worked as a contingent faculty or instructor?

• How would you describe the working conditions of contingent faculty and instructors at your college or university, including matters like compensation, benefits, opportunities for growth and advancement, job stability, and administrative and professional support?

• How do those conditions help or hinder your ability to earn a living and have a stable and successful career in higher education? What impact, if any, do those working conditions have on students or higher education generally?

• How do those working conditions help or hinder your ability to do your job, or how do they otherwise affect students in achieving their educational goals?

Check it out!

Nelson Mandela: A Union Man.

Updated Dec. 6, 2013. By John Nichols, The Nation

Nelson Mandela was a union man.

Long aligned with the Congress of South African Trade Unionists, Mandela framed his presidency with a declaration that: “The kind of democracy that we all seek to build demands that we deepen and broaden the rights of all citizens. This includes a culture of workers’ rights.”

In South Africa, as a young campaigner for racial justice, Mandela was profoundly influenced by the 1946 African Mine Workers Union strike. He learned organizing skills from AMWU activists and would become a champion of the miners, telling workers, “It is your sweat and blood that has created the vast wealth that white South Africa enjoys.”

Mandela, the African National Congress leader, Nobel Prize winner and first president of the new South Africa, who died Thursday at age 95, recognized the organization of workers as a part of the freedom struggle and of the formation of a just society.

Unlike so many leaders who rise of power with the support of organized labor but then distance themselves from the movement, Mandela never broke the bond. He proudly served to the end of his days as the honorary president of South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers. He declared himself to be “fully committed to the protection of the integrity of the collective bargaining system.” And he spoke movingly about how the “international solidarity of workers of the world enables us to learn from each other, to support each other and strengthen our ties in the face of multinational strategies for profit maximization and exploitation.”

For generations to come, there will wide-ranging and appropriate discussion of Mandela’s remarkable contributions to our understanding of freedom, democracy, tolerance and basic human relations.

Yet, it is that understanding of international solidarity that comes to mind when people ask me about the years when I covered Mandela in South Africa and on his global travels. I saw it most powerfully during his remarkable twelve-day visit to the United States in 1990, which came just four months after his release from the Victor Verster Prison. Mandela addressed the Congress and the United Nations and visited with the president of the New York Stock Exchange. And he went to Detroit, where he was determined to thank members of United Auto Workers Local 600 for their early and militant opposition to apartheid.

The machines stopped at the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn in June 1990. Workers held aloft unfurled “Local 600” banners to welcome the South African leader on what was dubbed his “Freedom Tour.” When Mandela finally appeared, he was greeted by United Auto Workers president Owen Bieber and vice president Ernie Lofton. Mandela recalled the struggle to organize the plant in the 1930s and told the assembled workers: “It is you who have made the United States of America a superpower, a leader of the world.”

Bieber produced a UAW lifetime membership card and Mandela held it aloft, displaying it to the cheering crowd of autoworkers. Then, wearing a UAW jacket and hat, a beaming Mandela stepped to the microphone and declared, “Sisters and brothers, friends and comrades, the man who is speaking is not a stranger here. The man who is speaking is a member of the UAW. I am your flesh and blood.”

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Updated Nov. 21, 2013. The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA) has announced the dates for its annual 2014 conference. The conference will be held June 13-15, 2014 in Cumberland, BC in conjunction with the annual Miners’ Memorial celebration.

The association’s members include trade unionists, students, academics, and others who believe the labor movement must know where it has been and where it is going. Visit the PNLHA website for more information: http://pnlha.wordpress.com/

The PNLHA has also published it 2014 Labor History calendar and it looks awesome. Check out this link and order yours now!

http://www.pnlha.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/2014calendar-ratesheet.pdf

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Updated Nov. 1, 2013. UFE Membership Meeting! Thanks for Your Participation! Thanks everyone for attending our fall membership meeting. We are continuing our work that builds upon the campaign, “The Faculty Owns the Curriculum.” Topics of discussion included strategies to prepare for our next bargaining session, a budget analysis, a report concerning the recent fall labor/management meeting, and an overview of last summer’s successful Union School. Thanks for your participation!

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Updated Oct. 30, 2013. Greetings UFE members. Our fall membership meeting will be on Friday, Nov. 1 in Sem 2A 1107 from 5-7 p.m.

Agenda items for our membership meeting include: a labor/mgmt report and discussion of current issues (i.e. faculty hiring issues, governance hours, faculty development & travel), the fall faculty outreach campaign (with emerging themes from our colleagues), a UFE budget review, and preparation for our next collective bargaining session (with a close reading of key contract language). Please join us for important dialogue and snacks! Bring your contract!

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Updated Oct. 21, 2013–Joint UFE-TESC Statement
Meeting Responsibilities & Eligibility for Professional Development

The UFE and management teams would like to emphasize our continued commitment to the values carried forward from the Faculty Handbook into the first and second Collective
Bargaining Agreements related to team teaching and teaching students at varying points in their educational development. These values are central to the identity of the college, and they impact our ability to recruit and retain students. These values are expressed as responsibilities of some regular faculty members and affect how those faculty members collectively plan curriculum and form teaching teams.
Team Teaching Responsibilities
Regarding teaching partners, CBA 6.3.3 states: Regular faculty members (other than library faculty members, and faculty members teaching in graduate and reservation-based programs) must teach with at least five (5) different faculty members during every fifteen (15) quarters (excluding summer quarters). The calendar for team teaching responsibilities will coincide with the faculty member’s five year-review.
Teaching First Year Students
Regarding first-year seats, CBA 6.3.4 (a) states: Regular faculty members teaching in the full-time, daytime, undergraduate curriculum on the Olympia campus are expected to divide their teaching between beginning and more advanced students. In a given four (4)-year teaching cycle, faculty are expected to teach in at least the equivalent of one (1) year-long program designed primarily for first-year students, or two (2) year-long programs designed primarily for lower division students, or three (3) year-long programs designed as all-level. The calendar for teaching first-year students will follow four-year cycles, beginning in 2010/2011.
Meeting Professional Responsibilities: The Assessment Process
To provide information in a timely manner, in the summer the Academic Deans will check the patterns and combinations of plans for each faculty member. The deans will make an effort to meet with faculty at the beginning of fall quarter to share information and to check in with individuals whose four- or five-year plans do not appear to be fitting together in a way that fulfills professional responsibilities. The dean and faculty member will review the teaching history and already planned curriculum and, if necessary, document plans (typically for the next planning cycle—two years hence) that will fulfill the responsibilities.
Eligibility for Professional Development
During the assessment process, faculty will retain eligibility for professional development.
Article 15 of the CBA states that each faculty member must “meet or have a plan to meet” these responsibilities to be eligible for professional development opportunities. If an appropriate plan is not developed and submitted by December 15 of that academic year, faculty will not be eligible for faculty development opportunities for 12 months or until such a plan is submitted. Communications from the deans declaring faculty ineligible for development opportunities (sent in October 2012) will be withdrawn and replaced with new communications outlining this process.
Waivers
A faculty member may request a waiver of the team teaching responsibility. The most recent agreement between the UFE and TESC specifies that rotation and team teaching requirements “may be waived for a particular faculty member by the curriculum deans and a committee of faculty only when the faculty member has been requested to meet an extraordinary demand in the College curriculum or to account for faculty leave” (CBA 6.3.3). The waiver request must be made in writing and a written response is due. The deans and faculty committee may waive or extend the time frame during which the faculty member may fulfill responsibilities. This written response can then be incorporated into the documentation of whether a faculty member has met or has a plan to meet their responsibilities.

Both parties believe that team teaching and teaching students at varying points in their educational development are core values and essential to recruiting and retaining students. Both parties will continue to explore ways to balance the academic goals of first-year seat responsibilities with efforts to serve diverse student populations.

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Updated Oct. 3, 2013. The Central Washington University Board of Trustees Approves a New 4-year Contract

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — By Rafael Guerrero

The Central Washington University Board of Trustees approved a new four-year contract for faculty in September, 2013.The four-year agreement calls for a new faculty compensation and reward system as well as across-the-board salary increases in each year of the contract. According to CWU, salaries would increase 5 percent for this year, retroactive to Sept. 1; 4 percent for 2014 and 2015; and 3 percent for 2016.

The new contract also replaces the current merit system with a post-tenure review reward model, enhances department chair compensation and adds a development fund pool for senior lecturers, according to the university. In addition, parental leave of up to six weeks is available under the collective bargaining agreement. School officials and union representatives said the negotiations and ensuing contract are good for students.

“CWU students have access to research and scholarship that is distinctive in Washington and we believe that academic opportunity and rigor will only improve with this contract,” CWU President James L. Gaudino said in a prepared statement. “Students will know that Central is committed to recruiting, retaining, and rewarding faculty who bring a quality commitment to teaching and scholarship.”

Faculty union president Roxanne Easley said the deal offers better faculty working conditions, which will improve education for students. “Improving faculty salaries in a national market and reinforcing our commitment to faculty and student research collaboration are major faculty concerns,” she also said in a prepared statement, “and this contract makes progress on both of these fronts.”