What Has the Union Done for You Lately?
By: Barbara Hanfling, FA, AFT 6157 Executive Director

Health Center Professionals to Join the Faculty:

Ensuring due process, fair and consistent representation, the Union discovered that the District was hiring health professionals in our Student Health Centers as professional experts, not as faculty. These nurses were being paid far less than nurses in the industry or than our own faculty. They also were not covered by the Union contract and had to request salary increases each year and often received none at all..

But the Union immediately notified the District that the District was not following the intent of the Education Code as professional experts are described as very short term experts who come in to work on a particular project.

This was clearly not the case with most of the nurses/nurse practitioners, as we saw they were often hired for 20-30 hours a week. In the continuing manner to work collegially together and to best serve our students and represent our faculty below are excerpts from a letter sent to appropriate administrators regarding the Health Center by the Chancellor.

April 15, 2008

From: Rosa G. Perez, Chancellor

Re:Classification of Health Center Nurses/Nurse Practitioners/Counseling Supervisors in the Student Health Centers

Last summer it was brought to our attention by the leadership of the Faculty Association that we needed to review a long standing questionable practice of hiring hourly nurses and other health professionals as professional experts. Several discussions took place between the Vice Presidents of Student Affairs and the FA, including a review of practices at other community colleges. The discussions were very collegial and productive. The background materials were brought forth to me for my consideration and I determined that three categories of health center professionals properly needed to be classified as faculty: nurses, nurse practitioners and counseling directors or supervisors. This action will be retroactive to July 1, 2007.

In order to implement this decision, the following actions are to take place for current employees:

Retroactive pay effective the first paycheck of the regular contract year following July 1, 2007, shall be provided to each of these new adjunct faculty members falling into the three categories listed: registered nurse, nurse practitioner, and counseling supervisor in a student health center. These faculty will be paid according to the non-instructional rate of $69.90/hr. Every effort will be made to pay these faculty their retroactive salaries by May 10, 2008.

These new faculty will now have the same protections as adjunct faculty do in our unit including but not limited to: a fair and equitable salary which has COLA increases most every year; Seniority Rehire Preference for more job security; the right to receive health benefits; a defined benefit retirement plan; sick leave/jury duty leave/parenting leave and many other benefits of the contract.

Here is how one new nurse/faculty member describes her feelings about joining the Union:

The Health Center Nurses/Professionals are very pleased that we will now be considered part of the Faculty and the Faculty Association, AFT 6157 and will be treated as the professionals that we are. Our wages and working conditions will be clearly spelled out in the contract. We are particularly pleased that the Union noticed this issue and as a result, we will be getting retroactive pay. Thanks so much to the Faculty Union!

On personal note, the value of the faculty union’s negotiations on our behalf impressed upon me the importance of our union in protecting its members. Had I been a member in the 2006-2007 academic year, I am convinced beyond a doubt the union would have stepped in and rectified a job offer that never materialized. Both orally and in writing I was asked to substitute for our Student Health Services Director at her substitute rate for 11 days while she was on a cruise. After much negotiation with the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health, and assurance that I would be compensated at that level, I accepted the temporary substitute assignment. On the 11th day of faithfully carrying out this assignment with no supervision, I was informed by both Human Resources and Academic Support that an unfortunate error was made and that I could not be paid anything more than my customary hourly rate even though I had fulfilled the Director of Health Services duties. Without a union this kind treatment goes unchecked and with no recourse.

Again, thanks so much to the Faculty Union.

Respectfully,

Jacqui Baiardo, RN, Clinic Nurse, EVC Student Health Svcs