May 13, 2003
 

TO:       Board of Trustees and
             Dr. Diane Van Hook, Superintendent/President
             College of the Canyons
             26455 Rockwell Canyon Road
             Santa Clarita CA 91355

FROM:        Miguel Contreras, Executive Secretary Treasurer
             Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

On behalf of the nearly 1,000,000 members of organized labor in Los Angeles County,   I am urging you to withdraw your court appeal of the decision of the Public Employment Relations Board to allow an election for bargaining representative for the part time faculty at the College of the Canyons.  It is our understanding that the PERB decision should have settled the matter.  The only thing that is holding up an election for bargaining representation is this appeal to the court system.  This is both inappropriate and unwarranted to pervent a democratic election to take place.  Remember, the PERB decision clearly stated that the Board of Trustees should not choose a bargaining agent for the part time faculty by putting them into another bargaining unit without their consent.  The democratic process will take care of this, not an appeal to the courts.  To not withdraw the court appeal would mean that the Board of Trustees wants to choose the bargaining agent for these part time faculty and not the democratic process.  Do you really want to be known for stopping the employees from making their own choice?

Thank you for your attention to this matter of democracy and fairness.

[signed], Miguel Contreras