.....Uh-oh......Looks like negotiations re the faculty contract are not going well. There's a very real chance that the Faculty Association (the union) will call for a "work-to-contract" (a 36-hour work week) very soon. Possibly on Friday.
.....If that happens, faculty will be asked to stick to the work defined by the contract, though it is likely that faculty will be encouraged to apply the action only to administrative activities, not to teaching activities. Union leadership is disinclined to take actions that will hurt students.
.....Among the faculty that I hang with, going into work-to-contract mode would entail a very substantial reduction in work.
.....Many of us, of course, are in the midst of search processes for new hires, part of Raghu Mathur's absurd HIRING INSTRUCTORS STUPIDLY (HIS) initiative, a misbegotten extravaganza necessitated by the Gooster's inveterate failure to observe the 50% Law (a law which, incidentally, has been on the books since about 1960, so ignore all that Fuentean "stupid new state mandate" malarkey). .....In the case of the search that I happen to be participating in (for an IVC writing instructor), if the work-to-contract action is called, all of our committee's work—including about 18 hours of work per committee member over last weekend alone—will likely be for naught, 'cause we've got one more interview—there's no getting around it—and the soonest we can hold it is Saturday.
.....Alas, if the union calls for a work-to-contract action, they'll likely do that this Friday. That would mean that our committee cannot meet for the final interview and deliberations. And that, dear reader, would mean that our top candidates will be hired by some other college, not by us.
.....As you know, our Mathur-induced 50% problem can be addressed only by increasing instructional spending or decreasing non-instructional spending. Instructional spending boils down to: spending on faculty salaries and benefits. .....Reducing non-instructional spending is damned hard, as you know.
.....But the Fuentes-dominated board is, shall we say, disinclined to opt for faculty raises or pay increases, even if they merely keep up with the cost of living. That pretty much leaves only the big dumb HIS initiative—that certified FIASCO that occupies the time (and weekends) of so many of us.
.....But, if the union is compelled to call for a work-to-contact, much of the HIS is threatened—and that could spell disaster for our effort to cross above the 50% line (spending must occur by June for this year). Perhaps as many as 20 of the searches are threatened.
.....Stay tuned.
N.B.: you'll find SOCCCD trustee bios (with email addresses) at Board Members.
