Adjunct Junction (March 2016)

Adjunct Junction: So Far Ahead, Still Far to Go

by Ramon Herrera

Adjunct Faculty Representative

There is no misunderstanding that we have not reached parity for adjunct faculty, and there is much work to be done to achieve this. This short article, however, is not about what we do not have, but rather what we do have. Most recently, I was at a convention for the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) in Sacramento, and what I came away with is an increased awareness of the contract items, won through our collective bargaining agreement – like paid office hours for adjuncts and reemployment rights – that many community colleges throughout the state do not enjoy. In fact, Assembly Member Medina has introduced a bill for all California Community Colleges (CCC) to attain these same rights.

State Assembly, Assembly Bill (AB) 2069 would guarantee paid office hours for adjunct faculty throughout California Community Colleges. This is something adjuncts in our District teaching credit courses already enjoy through the meeting of the minds of our Guild and our District. It is hoped that we could soon have this realized for adjuncts teaching non-credit courses as well.

Also in the State Assembly is AB 1690 that provides rehire (reemployment) rights for adjunct faculty in the CCC system, some of which we already provide through, again, our collective bargaining agreement. AB 1690 would also ensure that adjuncts be guaranteed an opportunity to be placed on a seniority list that would maximize their chances of receiving the same workload received on the semester/quarter prior to being placed on the seniority list.

Fortunately, our Guild and District are working together to ensure that a “premium” education is reflective of its campus community, which includes personnel, wages and working conditions. However, to ensure we do not get complacent in areas of our collective bargaining agreement that need improvement, or have been overlooked, for our members, our Guild President Zohara Kaye, is implementing task forces (part-time, racial, and workload) to address issues regarding equity. In this regard, many of you know, we have reached a 1% differential increase in pay for adjuncts to bring us slightly closer to 87.5% parity.

Of course, all is made possible through a strong union. Therefore, Kaye, is also working long hours with our Building Power team, the MnM’ers. Their sole job is to increase our strength in numbers –understanding that together more can be realized. Let us continue to set the example for other campuses to follow understanding this cannot be accomplished without the hard work of all involved –like our negotiation teams of the District and the Guild.