As we embark upon a Thanksgiving Holiday like we have never seen before, I want to wish all of you, on behalf of the Executive Committee, a healthy and well deserved holiday break. I hope you are able to take some time over the break to take care of the physical and mental health of yourself and your family. Get away from your computer, exercise, spend some time outside, and try to do some things that you haven’t had time to do this semester. Most importantly, just try to relax.
A quick note for all of us to remember. How cool is it that some of the very first responders and medical professionals in our communities treating us for this terrible virus and protecting us are MC employees and graduates. We are as grateful for them as they are for us.
On Wednesday evening, November 11 members of our Negotiating Team (Sharon Piper, Tito Baca, Robin Flanary, and Ginger Robinson) hosted our first Contract 101 session. During this Zoom session they covered several parts of our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA): Articles 2 (Management Functions), 4 (Faculty Appointments), and 5 (Faculty Workload) The 30 or so faculty in attendance had a robust discussion about each of these articles.
On Wednesday evening December 9 (time TBA), we will offer our second Contract 101 session which will cover Article 6 (Leaves of Absence), Article 7 (Chapter Rights), and Article 8 (Salary), in our CBA.
Our goal in hosting these sessions is to help all of you become better informed about our CBA, the role of the Chapter, and the Executive Committee. Most importantly, we want you to recognize that we support all bargaining unit members of the full-time faculty whether you are a full dues paying member of the Chapter, paying the voluntary collective bargaining service fee, or you are getting the benefits of our services and paying nothing. As I mentioned in my last update, succession planning is very important for our Chapter and we hope that by becoming better informed that some of you will consider taking a leadership role in the Chapter in the future.
In addition to our January opening meeting, we will continue to host additional informative sessions during the spring semester. After a robust and healthy conversation among us and several of our constituents concerning how we, as an Executive Committee, could respond to the nationwide discussion of social justice and racial equity, we have decided to host a session on social justice and racial equity at MC. Our goal is to facilitate a collaborative conversation that helps us understand how we can better represent the faculty and helps all of you understand how you can better support each other.
It is important for all of you to know that our primary role as an Executive Committee is to represent all of you, protect all of you, and protect our union interests by protecting our contract. This is our primary mission at MC. For this reason, our Chapter has never issued a statement in support of any social movement, political movement, political party, or candidate. However, we do believe that Black lives matter, and for us this affirmation means that our faculty of color have a right to thrive at MC and not just survive. If any faculty member believes they are experiencing unequal treatment due their race, gender, sexual orientation, or faith, we stand ready to support you in your fight for equality and social justice.
Again, I hope you have an enjoyable and restful Thanksgiving holiday.
On behalf of the Chapter,
Harry Z.
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