Colleagues

A hearty "thank YOU" to the tremendous support by so many local faculty and staff in our carding effort at College of the Canyons.  COC is not just around the corner from most of you, so your generous contribution of time and effort really took some commitment.  Special recognition goes to Roy Latas who traveled all the way from Palomar College to card at COC until 10:30 one evening.  COC part-timers have asked me to extend a particular thanks to the following people, many of whom made more than one trip to campus: Heidi Preschler (Antelope Valley), Phyllis Eckler (Glendale), Mattie Moon (LA), Wilbur Cotten (Compton), Carolyn Widener (LA), Larry Miller (Ventura), Gerald Schieb (LA), Sam Russo (El Camino and North OC), Homer Arrington, (Ventura), Merle Demroff (LA), Carl Friedlander (LA), Rolf Mendez (LA), Marty Hittleman (LA), Harry Korn (Ventura), Ruth Hunt (Ventura), Robert Perrone (Los Rios), Paul Jordan (CFT).   Because YOU gave your valuable time, we are able to announce some VERY good news!

Yesterday the part-time faculty at College of the Canyons filed a petition for representation with the district and validated their filing with a majority  show of support to PERB.  The filing comes only a day before the scheduled PERB two-day hearing on the COC unfair labor practice charge brought by AFT against the district on behalf of part-time faculty.  The charge is that the district violated legally-mandated neutrality by showing preference to the CTA full-time faculty union when they agreed to a back door unit modification accreting 380 part-timers without their knowledge or consent.  Previously, PERB sought and won a rare injunction in Superior Court against the district and the full-timers union to keep them from immediately negotiating a sweetheart deal to consolidate their power over part-timers.

How our petition for representation fits into the legal battle is unknown.  Ordinarily, our filing would precipitate an immediate election in the fall.  Considering the amount of district investment in this fight, it is very possible COC will try to play games . . . 

By the way, as you know, the Victor Valley College BOT has now effected the same back door accretion of part-timers into the CTA full-time faculty union.  The main difference from COC is that part-time faculty at VVC are being directly threatened with reprisal (no classes for the fall) by at least three department chairs if they do not join CTA.  Thanks to legal challenge by AFT, PERB has announced it intends to now also seek injunction on behalf of part-timers at Victor Valley.  Our challenge will be to convince a presumptively more conservative San Bernardino County Superior Court judge to issue the injunction to protect part-time faculty.  I will keep you updated.

I just want to point out that our ability to come to the defense of unrepresented community college faculty groups like these is a direct result of "your tax dollars at work", your per capitas to CFT and AFT - as well as the energy and resolution you personally contribute when we need real people to make a connection and a difference.  We are doing the right thing for the right people at the right time.  THANK YOU, brothers and sisters, for your support.  Thank you for your eloquence of spirit.

Linda Cushing

April 23, 2002:
The following email was received from a COC part-time instructor:

Thank you for your efforts!  I have a question - has anyone compared our salaries with those of full-time instructors on a per class-hour basis? I have no idea what full-time teachers are making here, and am curious - could you tell me what the lows and highs are?  Thank you ---- 

S.

And the response from Michael Ward, with COC P-T Solidarity/ United:

Yes this information is available.  The California Community College Chancellor's web page at http://misweb.cccco.edu/mis/onlinestat/staff.cfm - it's also linked to our COC Solidarity web page has this info.  The latest statistics are for the fall semester 2000, but they will give a fair picture about what is going on.  You might also check out the part-time faculty listserv through the California Part-time Faculty Association (you need to send in a membership to access the CPFA listserv, but there is another on Yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CCC-PartTime/

I hope that this is helpful!

Sincerely, 

Michael Ward
Part-time History instructor, COC

April 21, 2002:
We are gearing up for two days of hearings at the offices of the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) in Los Angeles (April 29 and 30), dealing with motions submitted by lawyers for the Santa Clarita Community College District/ College of the Canyons.  In the meanwhile, we of the COC Part-Time Faculty United are gathering signatures of interest on cards for AFT.  If we are successful, then we will get a chance to vote for our union reprsentation and begin to make some real changes for part-time faculty at College of the Canyons.  We are counting on all of our support in this effort.  A NEA/CTA (the parent union of the COC full-time faculty union - COCFA) has also been working the campus in an attempt to confuse the issue for part-timers.  The ONE and ONLY issue is FREE CHOICE!  We welcome Rachel Maldonado, the NEA/CTA representative, and despite the fact that she is a nice person, her purpose is not for the benefit of COC part-timers.  Please send in your signed cards if you have not yet done so, and pass the word along to your part-time faculty colleagues!

After about three months of service, our "old" web page is being retired.  Its most recently updated version (April 8, 2002) is preserved here in the table below.

Home Page | About Page | What's New Page | Issues & Rebuttal Page | History Page at Welcome to the  COC Part-Time Faculty United Home Page! College of the Canyons Part-Time Faculty United Building a better profession, a better institution and better student learning. cocptsolidarity@worldnet.att.net OR CALL 1-800-662-1911 Please let us hear from you.  Send us your questions or comments to build a better college and a fair workplace. All Contact with COC Part-Time Faculty United AFT/CFT is Confidential. Proclaiming our SOLIDARITY as PART-TIME FACULTY at College of the Canyons, our purpose is to utilize our democratic right to choose our own representation! April 8, 2002 UPDATE: Have You Signed a Card, or Sent Your Signed Card Back? Now is the time to sign a card and mail back your signed and dated authorization card to Part-Time Faculty United, PMB #435, 23120 W. Lyons Ave., #5, Newhall, CA 91321-2669.  Without a sufficient number of these cards, we will not be able to form our own organization for collective bargaining in order to improve pay and teaching conditions for COC adjuncts. Please send it back today. If you need a new card, please leave us an e-mail and we will send you one today. Why a Part-Time Faculty Union? In the past, there was no real way that part-time faculty could gain a raise in pay or select a desired section for a course other than to negotiate these desires with department chairs individually.  This led to differences in course selection methods, loss of seniority for recall to another semester and other disparities that have left many part-time faculty feeling left out of the decision making process and without a voice in the process. The City College of San Francisco part-time faculty have 85% pro-rata pay (they make 85% of what full-time faculty make for doing the same job).  Part-timers in Los Rios Community College District (Sacramento area) make 80% pro-rata pay.  By comparison, COC part-timers (even those who have completed the district's celebrated Associates Program) make less than 50% pro-rata pay! The only way that faculty can guarantee fair pay, benefits and inclusion into the decision making processes is to have them included in a collective bargaining agreement.  Through this negotiation process between the faculty and the college  representatives, a fair agreement on these important matters can be found.  By continuing to act as individuals, we have accomplished little to advance our professional status at COC. By creating a democratically led adjunct faculty association, adjuncts can be sure that a newly negotiated contract will reflect their wishes because they will be negotiated by adjuncts, with advice from AFT/CFT when asked, and any tentative agreements will be ratified by the full COC adjunct membership. What Does Signing the AFT/CFT Authorization Card Mean? Many adjunct faculty were recently given an Authorization Card to sign and send back to Part-Time Faculty United AFT/CFT.  By completing and signing the card, the individual adjunct declares hers or his interest in AFT/CFT for the purpose of getting an election.  At a later date, assuming that AFT/CFT is chosen by adjunct faculty members, they will have a choice whether or not they would like to become members of AFT/CFT (which entitles them to have a voice in the leadership of the union, input into union policy making, participation in the collective bargaining process, ability to serve as a union officer as well as other benefits).  When an election is had, a vote for AFT/CFT authorizes AFT/CFT to bargaining wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment, as well as to adjust grievances on the behalf of part-timers.  With the strength of roughly 380 faculty members, adjunct faculty will quickly gain their combined voice to make the changes needed to put them on an equal footing with the college administration. This will enable us to negotiate fair contracts to help part-time faculty gain the respect that we deserve. All signed cards will be kept confidential and will at no time be seen by college administrators. Email Us! All Contacts to COC Part-Time Faculty United are Completely Confidential. Are You On Our Mailing List? Keep updated with the latest news about COC part-time faculty events by leaving us your e-mail address, home mailing address and in which department you teach. All contacts will be kept confidential. VOTE! Let Us Hear From You! All Inquiries Are Confidential. Send a confidential email. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP? CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT! Let Us Hear From You! All Inquiries Are Confidential. Send a confidential email. Meet Your Organizing Committee The COC Part-Time Faculty United Organizing Committee is currently made up of: Marcy Bregman Beverly Cope Paul Lin Michael Ward Chuck Whitten Leave an e-mail with this website or contact them by clicking on their names above. College of the Canyons Part-time Faculty United Building a better profession, a better institution and better student learning. Keep updated with the latest news about COC part-time faculty events by leaving us your e-mail.   For more than two decades the CTA-affiliated College of the Canyons (Full-Time) Faculty Association (COCFA) consistently refused to represent us, and decided to induct us ONLY when we attempted to organize independently as a means to negotiate the receipt of money granted to PART-TIME faculty from the state.  The COCFA induction of Part-Time faculty against our will was ILLEGAL, according to a February 14, 2002 ruling by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in Sacramento (and confirmed on March 21 by the Los Angeles County Superior Court). Our assertion all along was that the COCFA was WRONG. COCFA representatives and the COC Administration insisted otherwise, and now that we have a ruling in our favor, we'll see if the Administration keeps its promise to comply, as was stated by COC VP Phil Hartley at the Part-Time faculty orientation meeting January 14, 2002.  The recent treatment of adjunct faculty by the COC (Full-Time) Faculty Association and the COC administration is unconscionable!  Help us put a stop to their UNFAIR and UNPROFESSIONAL treatment of their Part-Time colleagues.  COC runs on the backs of its part-time faculty - we hold the same degrees and perform the same work as full-time faculty - we deserve to be treated with the same degree of respect and professionalism!                                                                                        JOIN US! JOIN AFT!   IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE FACTS, YOU SHOULD.  CONFUSION = POWERLESSNESS! For information contact COC Part -Time Faculty United at: cocptsolidarity@worldnet.att.net or ptfacunited@prodigy.net OR CALL 1-800-662-1911 Let Us Hear From You! All Inquiries Are Confidential.   This page was updated on Saturday, April  8, 2002 Click on the Solidarity logo to return to the top of this page

THANK YOU all for your splendid help collecting cards this week at College of the Canyons!  Your presence and support are deeply appreciated, and your work at COC has moved us several steps closer to our goal of organizing an AFT/ CFT unit there.  This has been an excellent week so far, and we could not have done it without all of your help - again, THANK YOU!!!

In Unity,
COC Part-Time Faculty United

April 12-14, 2002: 
Representing COC Adjunct Faculty United Instructor Michael Ward attended the American Federation of Teachers National Higher Education Issues Conference, Chicago.  His developing reports can be found by clicking on the "Issues and Rebuttal Page."

April 7, 2002:
College of the Canyons Adjunct Instructor Michael Ward represented COC Part-Time Faculty United at the CFT Part-Timer Committee, Southern Section meeting at AFT Guild 1931 at San Diego, California.  There he reported on the COC P-T faculty organization effort.  Several of our Southern California P-T colleagues offered their support by helping to collect cards at COC in the next week or two. 

April 6, 2002:
The following email report on last Wednesday's COC Part-Time Faculty United meeting and other updates comes from Linda Cushing of AFT:

Hello, folks!

We had a GREAT meeting at Applebee's Wednesday evening.  We had a full agenda and much planning was accomplished amid chicken wings and mozzarella sticks.

Colleagues, we need your help to push us over the top on our carding drive in the next few weeks . . . 

BTW, watch for a news story on our fight for free choice in the Signal.  If you're a writer, a letter to the editor in that paper drawing the public's attention to the unfair and illegal way part-time faculty have been treated at COC would be very helpful in creating synergy.  Try to keep your comments to 150 words or less.  As ususal, you'll need to provide your name and phone number when you fax in your letter, but the paper will withhold your name by request.

I also expect a story soon in the Canyon Call by a student reporter.  Likewise, a letter to the editor there would be a great contribution.

FYI, our underlying lawsuit, upon which PERB's injunction was granted, will go to hearing April 29 and 30.  If you wish to attend the proceedings, it will be at PERB's headquarters on Wilshire Blvd. in downtown LA.  Contact me for hearing times, directions, and parking info.  I expect the hearing to be VERY, VERY interesting.

It was wonderful seeing so many of you at our meeting last evening!  Our ranks are growing every day as more and more part-time faculty gain clarity on the abridgement of their rights by the district and COCFA.

Let me hear from you right away so I know when you can contribute some valuable time to our effort from April 8 - 26.  And, as always, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hestitate to call.  With your support, we WILL be successful at restoring free choice and a voice to part-time faculty. 

Onward!

Linda Cushing
AFT National Representative
714/526-7220

The following email came through to COC Part-Time Faculty United, containing COC adjunct professor Chuck Whitten's letter to the editor regarding an article published in The Signal:

Dear Editor:

In response to your story of April 4, 2002, I would like to provide some further information.  I am extremely disturbed by the events involving the Santa Clarita Community College District board of trustees, the administration of the college and the College of the Canyons Faculty Association (COCFA).

Historically, COCFA has represented the full-time faculty at COC for about 25 years.  Throughout that time representatives of the part-time faculty have repeatedly requested to be considered for admission into the union.  COCFA rebuffed the part-time faculty members on each and every occasion.  It was not until last year, after the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) began an organizing drive, that COCFA's president, Lea Templer, initiated action on November 15, 2001 to subsume the part-timers into her union.  This action was instituted, literally, the day after AFT representative Linda Cushing notified college Vice President Phil Hartley that the organizing drive was underway.

It's extremely important to note that Templer took this action without consulting the membership of COCFA or of the part-time faculty.  It is not clear if she consulted the executive board of the union.  Templer repeatedly has claimed that COCFA negotiated a pay-raise for part-timers that was instituted last Fall.  The fact is that the legislature of the State of California provided for that raise in an effort to bring part-time community college instructors' pay into parity with full-time instructors' pay.  Any action by COCFA was nothing more than protocol.  The board of trustees and Hartley have said, publicly, that they would support the decision of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and yet the district is now involved in an expensive legal battle challenging PERB's recommendations.

I have a series of questions concerning all of this, but among the most important is: Why did COCFA suddenly, without apparent reason, change its mind after a quarter of a century of rejection of part-timers?  All of this could have been prevented had Lead Templer simply called for a democratic election asking part-timers if they would like to be a part of COCFA.  I believe that, had she done that, the part-timers would likely have joined COCFA.  As it is, it appears the interests of COCFA are contrary to those of part-time faculty.

Chuck Whitten, Adjunct Professor
College of the Canyons
Journalism and Radio/Television/Film

April 4, 2002:

The following email came through to COC Part-Time Faculty United, regarding an article published in the Santa Clarita Valley newspaper The Signal:

Here's a copy of the article on the union problem at COC.  It's kind of short and fails to mention that part-timers had been trying to get COCFA to let us in for 25 years.

The link to the Signal's story is just above the writer's name.  You can write a letter to the editor from that page.

Chuck

Part-time teachers at College of the Canyons want their own union representation, and a judge cleared the way for it to happen March 23.  By Patti Rasmussen Signal Staff Writer 

    Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ordered the college district and the union that represents its full-time faculty to stop recognizing the union as speaking for the part-time teachers.
    The injunction, sought by the Public Employees Relations Board, came on the heels of charges of unfair labor practices, filed by the American Federation of Teachers and several part-time workers at the college.
    Of the 500-plus instructors at College of the Canyons, nearly 380 are part-time or adjunct teachers. While the full-time instructors are represented by the COC Faculty Association, adjunct staff members have had to use informal channels to present their concerns about wages, hours and working conditions to the administration.
    In October, several part-time faculty members asked the AFT to initiate a labor organizing drive. About the same time, the Faculty Association offered to represent all teachers at the college.
    The two unions addressed the college board of trustees in November. In a closed session, the board selected the Faculty Association to represent both groups.
    According to College Vice President Philip Hartley, the selection came “on the advice of the state Public Employees Relations Board.”
    “On or about Nov. 2, 2001, the college received direct advice from (PERB) that the (Faculty Association) proposal was proper and legal,” Hartley wrote in a March 7 letter to faculty members.
    PERB “in writing accepted the agreement” between the COC board and the Faculty Association to allow the association to represent the part-time workers, Hartley wrote, “and indicated that they would change their records to reflect the unit modification.”
    In a Nov. 15 letter to adjunct faculty members, Lea Templer, president of the Faculty Association, said, “We feel it is in our best interest to have one union representing the entire faculty. We realize that not much was done in the past. However, we had already worked for many years with the (administration) in raising the adjunct salaries. We intend on representing the entire faculty in the future.”
    AFT labor organizer Linda Cushing said the quest for the March 23 injunction did not signal a fight between full-time and part-time staff.
    “COC is one of the last districts to get representation for part-time faculty,” she said. “We started a legal organizing drive at the request of a couple of part-timers. All we’re trying to do is give the part-timers a chance to vote on their representation.”
    Adjunct teacher Beverly Cope said she was pleased with Yaffe’s decision.
    “I feel the administration did the wrong thing by not allowing the part-time (staff) to vote on their representation,” Cope said. “(Judge) Yaffe was really focused on the adjunct faculty. He was not remotely concerned on who would represent us in the long run, but our right to vote.”
    Attempts to reach an attorney for COC were unsuccessful.
    The Public Employees Relations Board will conduct a hearing April 29 to review the matter with the full-time union, AFT and part-time teachers. 

April 2, 2002:

The following email came through to COC Part-Time Faculty United, regarding the COC administration's efforts to undermine card collecting:

Dear Mr. Hartley:

I received your phone message today where you indicated you wanted 
Part-Time Faculty UNITED to move our information table on the College of 
the Canyons campus to a place which is better for the college - "about 
20-25 feet further away" from the entrance to the mail room.

I understand that you have concerns about disabled people being able to 
move through the lobby of the administration building.  We have made sure 
we have not blocked access to anyone, including the disabled.  Let me 
make it clear that we have no intention of interfering with the operation 
of the college in any way.  It sounds like our interests are the same in 
this regard.  What we ARE interested in what the law provides to us as an 
employee organization attempting to organize part-time faculty:
reasonable access to our unit members.

I would be more than willing to sit down and talk with you about any 
concerns you have regarding our tabling.  Let's gain information as to 
what problems there may be and then negotiate a good solution that works 
for Part-Time Faculty UNITED - AFT and the district.

I must notify you that any unilateral decision on your part to deny us 
access to the location we have used since October 2001 will result in the 
filing of an unfair labor practice charge against the district.

I look forward to handling this together in a reasonable manner.  Please 
call me and let's set up an appointment to meet regarding the above.

Sincerely,
Linda Cushing
AFT National Representative

The following email came through to COC Part-Time Faculty United from COC adjunct instructor Michael Ward, expressing support for Victor Valley College in its organizing efforts: 

Greetings Arlene and the VCC Part-Time Faculty Group,

I hope that this email finds you all doing well and in good spirits - we are all in this together.  Despite our being at different campuses, we are confronting the same adversary of injustice and administrative absolutism that seemingly ignores American law and basic fairness. 

As you know, we have made some real progress in what was seeming (just weeks ago) to be a very hopeless situation at College of the Canyons (COC).  It has taken quite some time to garner support from our colleagues, who were justifiably (or otherwise) afraid of administrative retribution at the campus.  I myself was initially quite fearful, but decided to go public after my collegues at another community college (that has had a well-organized part-timers' caucus (AFT Local 1828) for some time now) assured me that the BEST position to be in with regard to union activity was up front and in the open.  They were right!  We began our part-time organizational drive last fall (I entered it after it was already under way) with many different participants, and it was interesting (and difficult) for the first few months to see people come and go, to become involved and take a stand before disappearing for no apparent reason, etc.  As we progressed with great help from Linda, John, (et al.) from AFT and STRONG SUPPORT from many different southern California community college faculty, we gradually gained the support of our own collegues at COC - this process is still happening, and our fight is not over by any means.  But with the significant gains that we have been able to make, our confidence is buiding, and it is my sincere hope that you will enjoy such support soon! 

The fact of the matter is that WE NEED EACH OTHER!  As you well know, what the COC and VVC full-time faculty organizations and the districts have done betrays the most basic (inspired and enlightened) principles of American democracy.  By each of our fights - and our collective fight - against such injustice, we take on a calling; indeed, we carry the mantle (within our limited environments, but in no small way) of the democratic principles extolled by the American Founders.  These things are our heritage, and when they are eroded (by the kinds of actions undertaken by the COC and VVC adminstrations) we ALL lose - PERB recognized that, and succeeded in winning a court injunction for us at COC.  They will do the same for VVC part-time faculty.  As soon as we become organized (or sooner), please know that you will be able to count on our support, and we will be most pleased to come out to VVC as a show of solidarity and to be of help, just as our colleagues from all over southern California are presently helping us. 

I hope that you all are doing well - at Ventura College (where I also teach), Librarian David Breslin recently mentioned that VVC part-time faculty were experiencing some very difficult times and tough (and illegal) oppositional tactics committed by members of the VVC full-time faculty organization in order to undermine part-timers' efforts to organize.  Whatever you do, do not give up!  You (and all of us) have too much to lose by giving in, and so much to gain by standing up to such injustice.  You all - we all - are really fighting the good fight in every way.  And WE ARE WITH YOU!  We are in this together!

In Solidarity,

Michael Ward
History Instructor
history240@worldnet.att.net

March 31/ April 1, 2002:

WE NEED A UNION THAT WILL REPRESENT PART-TIMER'S INTERESTS!  How can the administration expect Part-Time faculty to accept membership in the COCFA (Full-Time faculty union) when it was DENIED FOR OVER 20 YEARS - denied that is, until the state money for Part-Time faculty found its way into the hands of the COCAdministration. We need strong union representation that has Part-Time faculty interests at heart - WE NEED THE AFT/CFT!

The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and COC Part-Time faculty received a favorable ruling on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - the INJUNCTION against COCFA and the COC Administration is granted!
 

Click here for the full transcript  of the Injunction

This is according to The Honorable David Yaffee of the Los Angeles Superior Court
in the case of PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD, Plaintiff, v. SANTA CLARITA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT (COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS)

An additional hearing with the Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear continued appeals by the Santa Clarita Community College District, and additional details that need to be worked out, has been set for
April 19/ 20, 2002.