Welcome to the JULY 2003 History Page of
 COC Part-Time Faculty United

College of the Canyons Part-Time Faculty United
Building a better profession, a better institution and better student learning.

The following information includes emails come from several sources (including California adjunct organization listservs).  There are included here for there direct or indirect relevance to the part-time faculty organizing campaign at College of the Canyons.  The names of Part-Time Faculty at COC (excepting the organizing committe) and VVC who authored some of the emails that follow are omitted to preserve their anonimity. 

The following material provides a detailed background of events and issues leading up to the July 29, 2003 settlement between the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Santa Clarita Community College District/ COC.  Working on our behalf, AFT has fought hard and made spectacular gains that allow us to finally have an election!

The California State Court of Appeals confirms Part-Time Faculty Rights to organize at College of the Canyons!

The California State Court of Appeals has flatly rejected the "Van Hook Appeal"
- the Santa Clarita Community College District's appeal of the Public Employment Relations Board's January 8, 2003 decision that confirmed part-time faculty the right to organize! 

WE WILL NOW FINALLY HAVE AN ELECTION! 

Since the SCCCD Board of Trustees supported the Van Hook Appeal of PERB's January 8, 2003 decision in our favor, we have asserted that it had absolutely no merit.  Now the State Court of Appeals has confirmed our assertions; they flatly refused to even give it a hearing!  The financial costs of pursuing such frivolous legal challenges are astonishing at best, and unconscionable during these times of budget crises in this state.  The SCCCD should act prudently with regard to such wasteful expenditures of the TAXPAYERS MONEY! 

Since this struggle began nearly two years ago, we faced very tough odds that included administrative retaliation against the leadership of Part-Time Faculty United-AFT at COC.  Nevertheless with widespread support from our colleagues across the state, we remained stalwart and steadfast in our resolve to do what was right in principle, and honorable on behalf of our part-time faculty colleagues; protecting the freedom to choose our own representation at COC!

Nevertheless, the Santa Clarita Community College District Superintendant and College of the Canyons President Dianne Van Hook and her puppet board of trustees continue their union busting efforts directed at Part-Time Faculty!

Read a recent article in the Santa Clarita Valley Signal about Part-Time Faculty United-AFT activity at a recent meeting of the SCCCD Board of Trustees at our new Media Page link.

As Part-Time Faculty we are not alone in our struggle for democracy and our right to choose our own union representation at College of the Canyons. 

Miguel Contreras, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO speaks out in support of COC Part-Time Faculty!

In the face of unprecedented state budget cuts that are raising student fees and decreasing student access to services, College of the Canyons is wasting taxpayers’ money by HIRING EXPENSIVE LAWYERS TO FIGHT ITS OWN PART-TIME FACULTY for the past 17 months. COC is attempting to deprive part-time faculty of exercising their own legal and democratic right to form their own union. 

COC has been trying to force part-time faculty into a union of ITS choosing, not that of its employees – and this is AGAINST THE LAW.   60% of all part-time faculty signed petition cards a year ago to trigger an open and free election. Subsequent to that the state Public Employment Relations Board ruled that COC had failed to remain neutral and had ILLEGALLY INTERFERED with its employees’ right to freely form their own union. Despite public promises that they would abide by the state decision, in February COC took the extraordinary step of filing an appeal with the State Court of Appeals – a legal maneuver that ironically CONTINUES to interfere with part-time faculty’s right to organize! COC’s strategy is designed to stretch things out for years, hoping their vulnerable part-time temporary employees will giver in and give up their legal right to organize – and all the while the college law firm’s meter is running.

So far, the COC Trustees have NOT TAKEN AN OPEN AND PUBLIC VOTE, apparently allowing administrators to make this decision for them. To their credit, the Board of Trustees has agreed to discuss this issue publicly at its next meeting, Wednesday, May 14 at 6:30 PM in the Building S Private Dining Room. Part-time faculty are asking the Trustees to be held ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE COLLEGE by publicly voting to end COC’s appeal. We invite the community to attend this meeting. Rather than to fight its own teachers and throw money away in protracted and wrongheaded legal actions, all the while cutting course offerings, College of the Canyons should be spending taxpayer money on keeping as many STUDENT CLASSROOMS OPEN as possible.

Meanwhile, Dianne Van Hook remains one of the highest paid community college administrators in the state, at a rate of $230,000 per year (or $19,167 per month, not including perks).  Meanwhile, her salary increase of $18,000 per year, approved by the board of trustees last month comes during the worst state budget crisis in history!  In light of such apparent expressions of personal greed, and the fact that she is leading the charge against part-time faculty rights, Van Hook’s priorities are obviously unconnected with her primary duty of ensuring access to quality education for the community of Santa Clarita.

The continued effort by the Santa Clarita Community College Board of Trustees and the Administration of College of the Canyons to deny part-time faculty the right to choose its own union representation is deplorable. In early January, the California State Public Employment Relations Board issued its final decision supporting our right, as part-time faculty, to choose our own part-time faculty union through a legal vote. 

Part-Time Faculty United-AFT Organizing Committee member Gordon Richiusa notes the overbearing presence of Dianne Van Hook in the board's decision making and the lack of public input on the decision to appeal.  Please read his essay, titled: "An Open Letter to the Board of Trustees Members," (click on the title of this article in quotes above to go to the link, and then see "ISSUES/ REBUTTAL #17").

Meanwhile, the CTA/COCFA (full-time faculty union) is frantically attempting to portray itself as an old friend of the part-time faculty.  It is obvious, however, that nothing substantial has changed since they attempted to illegally force us into their organization in the fall of 2001; they do not want us, and they count on us to fail in our attempt to organize!  They are wrong!  Please read Beverly Cope's complete notes by clicking on the following link for  "Notes on the March 4, 2003 CTA/ COCFA Meeting" (see ISSUES/ REBUTTAL #16).