President's Column - Spring 2012

By PTFA Preseident, Jennifer Rueda

As mentioned in the R.A. (Representative Assembly) report, there are changes coming to our state-level OEA (Oregon Education Association). I, for one, am excited about these changes and it appears our OEA College Council is too. To tell you the truth, the union is made up of its people- it’s US, in other words. There’s no way the state level can do-all and be-all for its locals. Yes, the state level can supply uniserve consultants to help with bargaining and grievances, and they can supply good training, but they can’t actually put their feet on the ground, make the calls, or send the emails. It’s up to US to build our own local.

Why do that, you ask?

First off, I have worked hard the last 11 months to be build relationships with the college administration. I believe that labor and management CAN and should have a healthy relationship. So many of the road bumps we all encounter in managing an institution, such as our lovely Clackamas Community College, can be dealt with just by communication. Communication requires a relationship and I’m happy to say the college provides many opportunities for me (and YOU) to meet face-to-face and talk things out.

The first thing both the union and management want is a place for our students to grow as human beings. We are equally committed to that reality. I have seen that administrators, classified and others care just as much as the instructors. This is the glue that holds us together.

From that foundation, however, labor and management do have different values that are probably practically hard-wired. Management needs to run the whole institution (and keep it surviving); in doing so, the smaller parts of the institution may be trampled upon. Labor wants the best possible working conditions for its members. In fact, labor tends to highlight these three values, in the following order (with one being the most important):

1. Job security
2. Benefits, such as health insurance
3. Pay

Of course, labor and management do not always agree on how to provide these items, so there is bound to be some conflict.

After reading all this, you may again be asking “What does this have to do with the OEA changing its focus?”

Because the OEA will be more focused on helping locals grow stronger, I think we should take advantage of their experience and wisdom to help us grow stronger. Our local has two big issues facing us in 2013:

1. Many of our long-term executive board members are stepping back or retiring from being part of the board (not from teaching).

2. We will be bargaining again next year for another 3-year contract.

It is my fervent wish to recruit and train a few new board members, who in turn will work with the OEA to create a “Pilot Local”, which will do the following:

1. Identify potential leaders for face-to-face contact

• Get to know you: your values, hopes, dreams
• Find out how connected are you to CCC: only job, multiple jobs, 1x term, 1x year
• What the PTFA has to offer (fair share)
• What the OEA has to offer (no extra cost)
• Find out what you want in bargaining next year?
  

2. Identify potential leaders for the next barraging team. (Payment may be provided, however it will be taxable)

• Decide what to bargain for in 2013
• Decide what is fine and to leave alone
• Get bargaining training

I am in no way against our current administration; however, it would be naïve to think that without a strong local, we could withstand their push to weaken us. Like I said earlier, it seems to hard-wired for management to balance the budget or solve other problems on the backs of the people who have the least voice. That’s how life is. We can all get along; however, as a body, we need to have good esteem and a strong sense of our own values. With esteem and values, we can stand strong in the face of almost 100% guarantee that management will try to weaken the strength of our contract the next time we bargain or sooner, if that’s possible.

An example: in the last bargaining, administration got “needs of the program” which weakens our position under article 16. So far, I don’t think administration is taking advantage of it; however, article 16 cannot be weakened further, rather we need to fight for new language which allows long-term part-timers to have a yearly contract and/or health insurance.

Please stand with us when we start our Pilot Local program later in the Spring. I can’t want to meet everyone and get a sense of how hard-working and diverse our local is.