What Has The Union Done For You Lately?

By Debbie DeLaRosa, AFT 6157 Grievance Officer

Seniority Rehire Preference

In some instances, adjunct faculty members of AFT 6157 who meet the requirements for Seniority Rehire Preference as set forth in Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, often times still find themselves in need of help from the union. Article 9, Section 9.18.1. states that “SRP status provides a qualified adjunct faculty member with seniority rehire preference rights over other less senior adjunct faculty within the division.” Thus, this language allows adjunct faculty, if qualified, to teach in two different departments within a division.

Recently, an EVC adjunct faculty member in Physical Education with SRP was granted an equivalency for Dance. With course cutbacks in Physical Education, the adjunct faculty anticipated picking up courses in Dance to make up for the lack of work in Physical Education. Despite this confirmation and her SRP status, the Dean in her area, which includes both Physical Education and Dance, failed to offer her any sections in Dance for the Fall 2011 semester and literally refused to honor the contract.

In an email sent March 28, 2011 regarding this issue, the Dean stated “I have confirmed......with Lauren McKee and other EVC administrators and all state that SRP is only granted in ONE faculty service area and it has never been the practice to grant SRP in two service areas. It was also confirmed that the districts obligation to offer 33% or 40% to SRP adjuncts has never been “split” to satisfy the district’s obligation.”

After further communication from the union refuting this statement, the administration agreed that indeed this adjunct faculty member was in fact qualified and has SRP status in both Physical Education and Dance. Working through Human Resources, the Union was able to resolve this informal grievance and the adjunct faculty will now have SRP in her DIVISION.

With difficult budgetary times upon us, we urge all adjunct faculty to review Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement to stay informed of their rights provided to them by the contract.