Negotiations at a standstill

The MHCC full-time faculty and classified employee associations have yet to settle on a new work contract.

Here’s an update on the labor negotiations, seven weeks into the fall term:

 

Full-time faculty 

The full-time faculty association had its first mediation session Oct. 28, with the next one not scheduled until Nov. 22.

“I don’t things are going very well,” said Sara Williams, full-time faculty association president. “We’re not getting very far.”

Williams said the main obstacles are issues regarding safety and professional development.

She said the conversation on safety began with instructors’ personal safety, with regards to feeling threatened by a student. Instructors can file a report that is then evaluated. The faculty bargaining team wants to ensure that instructors retain input during analysis of the situation.

Another concern is if a student is basically stalking an instructor, Williams said. Instructors are told to take out a stalking protective order, for which the college does not want to help fund legal support costs, she said.

“The college doesn’t want to support us in the costs associated with obtaining that. The problem with that is, I never would have known that person except for my job,” Williams said.

Concerns also have surfaced regarding MHCC’s proposed security procedure for an active shooter on campus. Williams said that new strategies instructors have been told to use during an incident are impractical and must be redone.

Along with professional development (enhanced job training), the safety issue is something both sides in the labor talks believe needs attention, but “the sticking point is committing to it on the side of the administration,” she said.

“We want some assurance in the contract that some things are actually going to happen,” Williams said. “They (school administrators) don’t want to put it in the contract because they don’t know what it’s going to look like. We say, ‘fine, put the guarantee of something in the contract.’”

Williams said that two weeks ago she was not worried about taking a potential strike vote. Now, she is “a lot more worried,” she said.

 

Classified employees

The classified employee bargaining team led by Cathy Nichols is heading into its first mediation session on Nov. 21.

Negotiations continued past the required 150 days of good-faith bargaining, because there was still progress being made, Nichols said. Now, a third-party mediator is involved.

We’ve just gotten to the point where we’re stuck and we just need someone to help us get over this hurdle,” Nichols said.

The college administration filed for mediation. While the classified team asked for mediation to start early last month, the upcoming session was the first available day for the assigned mediator.

Nichols said she hasn’t given up hope for agreement.

“There’s a contract to be had. We just have to make sure it’s fair and equitable for our members,” she said.

Among obstacles still to be resolved are job security, health insurance, internal transfers and salary policies.

Nichols said, “I’m very pleased with the progress that has been made. The work that has been done is tremendous.”

Once begun, formal mediation talks must continue for 15 business days, as needed, but may extend further.

If no agreement can be reached, there will be a cooling off period, followed by the college imposing a contract. The classified association may then accept the contract or hold a strike vote.

— By press time the MHCC administration could not be reached for comment.