Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

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Present – Michael Abraham, Rick Applin, Dennis Cecere, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, David Scott, Will Silvio, guest – Phil Lima.

  1. Jackson opened the meeting. Danny made a motion to accept the minutes from last week from the previous meeting, Peter seconded; the vote was unanimous to accept the minutes.
     
  2. Phil Lima made a presentation on the possible change to Tufts and eventually transition to EdHealth to create a consortium to lower our health care costs. Blue Cross is not willing to participate in the EdHealth plan and therefore no longer a viable candidate. In terms of quality, the NCQA rates Tufts very high, number one or two with Harvard Pilgrim nationwide. In comparison between Harvard and Tufts, Tufts was far superior in creating a deal with Berklee and created a rate increase structure that has limits, no other company would do that. John Eldert has been the main person behind creating the EdHealth consortium.
     
  3. We discussed the plan and the move to Tufts.
     
  4. The ULP’s have been filed. Management is aware of them and we should be hearing from the labor board soon. Jackson will be meeting with Larry Simpson on another topic today.
     
  5. Jackson will be having lunch with Roger Brown on October 17.
     
  6. There are senior faculty that have been assigned 6-8 classes, the contract is clear that the faculty must OK the situation. 
     
  7. We may be filing an additional ULP based on the missing paycheck on August 30. Bad faith bargaining, if we were asked to skip a pay check, everyone should skip one, staff/admin included. It is a complicated situation. 
     
  8. We need to discuss a full-faculty meeting sometime this fall.

Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

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Present – Michael Abraham, Dennis Cecere, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Rich Grudzinski, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, David Scott, Will Silvio. 

  1. Jackson opened the meeting. David Scott was introduced as taking over for Diane Richardson. Beth called for a vote to approve last weeks minutes.  Rich seconded the vote.  The vote was unanimous.
     
  2. We discussed the election process and the credibility and mandate that an election would have going into bargaining next summer. We will get the process started for a spring election. We will talk 
     
  3. We have filed two ULP charges on raising minimums and the department meeting structure. Our lawyer believes this is a good fight, she would not file if it were not. We discussed at length: the process and how we are moving forward.
     
  4. We discussed adding a question to the ballot regarding raising stipends for Councilors and Division Reps. We may just use an all-faculty meeting to address raising stipends. 
     
  5. We discussed the Symphony garage closing and other possibilities for cheaper parking in the area. 
     
  6. We will be meeting with Management today to discuss healthcare issues, the merging of the consortium and the possibilities.
     
  7. Cancelled classes due to low population has led to faculty members on a three year contract dropping below their designated hours. This will affect their 3-Year contract and benefits. It is possible to get the additional hours in the spring – 27 units for the year is what is needed. Management continues to hire new part time faculty members while part timers already here do not have full schedules. Let’s put this on the agenda for the next union/management meeting.

Minutes from Union Executive Committee Meeting

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Present – Michael Abraham, Dennis Cecere, Peggy Codding, Peter Cokkinias, Beth Denisch, Marti Epstein, Rich Grudzinski, Danny Harrington, Teodros Kiros, Jeff Perry, Wendy Rolfe, Jackson Schultz, Will Silvio. 

  1. Jackson opened the meeting. Welcome back. We discussed the letters that Jackson sent to all faculty. We had a meeting with Larry Simpson and management on September 5 to discuss the changes in Academic Affairs. Larry acknowledged communication was an issue and then management changed the entire department meeting structure without contacting us. We will be filing a ULP on the raising of class minimums and we may add the new department meeting structure. Another option is to grieve the new department structure. Clearly management is trying to save money on the backs of part-timers. We will not stand for this! We discussed sending a letter to the chairs but determined that was not the best action at this time. All part-timers should keep track of lost hours. Jackson is going to email all the department reps to discuss how the meetings are being handled and we will proceed with the ULP or a grievance.
     
  2. We discussed the courses that were cancelled before add/drop and looked at their population before they were cancelled. Management is not considering the students when they are making these decisions.
     
  3. Jackson made a motion to appoint David Scott to replace Diane Richardson as a councilor. Danny seconded and the vote was unanimous to appoint David Scott as councilor.
     
  4. We discussed the financial situation of the college, the high tuition, and the costs that management is trying to make up on the backs of part-timers.
     
  5. Jeff has started the process of the yearly independent audit with Barbara Cochrane of Joseph B. Cohan and Associates, PC, tentatively scheduled for October 29.