HCAFA requests consolidation of bargaining for its three units at Harper College

Dear Dr. Breuder, 

As you are aware, on Wednesday October 20,2004, 3-hour Adjunct Faculty members and part time Librarians and Counselors voted to make the Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association IEA-NEA (HCAFA) their exclusive representative under the terms of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act. This letter is sent on behalf of those two bargaining units as a demand to begin bargaining their first contracts.

As you are also aware, the HCAFA is currently conducting negotiations with the College for the 6-hour Adjunct Faculty members. The College has invested well over 170 administrator work hours at the table in those negotiations and considerably more time in preparation. Still, almost ninety percent of that contract still needs to be negotiated. In light of the fact that the issues and solutions for all three bargaining units are mostly the same, we propose that negotiations for the three units be consolidated immediately, so that negotiations can be completed for all three units in a timely and more cost effective manner for the College. We do understand that this will result in three separate contracts. However, by providing for uniformity through the negotiating process, we believe that it will be considerably easier for the College to manage the process and create positive relationships with the new units.

Negotiating sessions are already established for November 9th and 23rd. The consolidation can begin at either of these two meetings, at your discretion.

We will be looking forward to your timely response.

Sincerely,

Mark Michaels
UniServ Director

cc. Laurie Stone, Chair, Board of Trustees
Judith Thorson, Vice President of Administrative Services
Larry Bielawa, Director of Human Resources
HCAFA Negotiations Team Members

At the bargaining table on November 2, 2002, the HCAFA team shared this list of reasons why bargaining ought to be consolidated:

Reasons to Consolidate Negotiations

1. There never was, is, nor should there be any difference between how 3-hour and 6-hour adjunct employees are treated at the College.
2. Combined negotiations will lead to simplicity and uniformity.
3. Instead of managing "7 unions," the College will only have to manage 4 unions.
4. Leads to the ability to coordinate the movement between bargaining units, making it easier to manage assignments, costs, and benefits.
5. The administration has already invested over 170 administrator hours in negotiations and considerably more preparing. Still, less than 10 percent of the first contract is negotiated. The College will save a considerable amount of money by consolidating negotiations.
6. Keeping negotiations separate leads to uncertainty for staff, which lowers morale and the quality of education at the College.
7. The College can expect to see the bargaining units consolidated in the next year anyway, so why confuse things now.

   
   Last revised on November 10, 2004 by the Webmaster.