CampusGuides: Chaparral 2017-2018: 26.3 Faculty United

Faculty United (November 2017)

Faculty United

Helping us to be OUR Guild

by Roger Bowerman
Guild President

Last month I wrote about the challenges presented by the Janus case for public unions across the United States. I know we all share in the dread presented by the ongoing and seemingly relentless assault on working Americans who simply want an equitable share of the largest economy in the world. Isn’t it about time that the rights of the many become central to the policy decisions of our elected officials?

As I write this communication, I can only rejoice in the enthusiasm of Glendale College faculty in becoming part of our faculty Guild. With the dedicated work of Past President Zohara Kaye and 2^nd VP Brian Reff, I can report that we have once again reached the 95% membership goal (a number that is the envy of CFT). Each semester there are between 50 and 65 new faculty, many of them adjunct, so to maintain this enviable membership rate requires ongoing work. But it is clearly work that resonates with the faculty on our campus.

Guild Liaisons

There is more good news regarding faculty activism in OUR union! Over the fall semester the Guild Executive Committee has been working to create a new volunteer role in our union: Guild Liaisons. The goal of this new role is to help bring a more personal face of the Guild for our members. We have been working diligently to identify potential Liaisons, and currently have a list of 35 faculty who are looking to increase their participation in our Guild. Of those, 15 have been contacted and agreed to serve in this new exciting position. The objective is to contact the remaining 20 on our list, and also to identify another 10 or so who would be willing to serve in underrepresented divisions.

The idea is to have friendly faces in all divisions to serve as a point of first contact for OUR Guild members. People are much more likely to talk to someone they know, so it seems to follow that these Liaisons will help more faculty become familiar with the Guild and what we do.

I do want you to understand the minimal duties of a Guild Liaison, so here is the job description:

Willing to have GCC contact information on the Guild home page. Optional: have an image posted along with that contact information to help faculty in your division recognize you.
Attend 1 hour of training during winter intersession or early in the spring session to learn some basics about how to find information in the Contract and know the duties of the Guild leadership.
Direct faculty members to the appropriate Guild officer. Guild Liaisons ARE NOT responsible for providing specific guidance about potential issues with the contract or working conditions.

As you can see, this is a perfect way to get move involved in OUR Guild with very low commitment. And, who knows, you may find you like this kind of work and want to become more involved in the Guild – maybe even run for office in the future. But it would be great if you only want to take this small step to help us become a more effective union. So, if this sounds interesting, please contact me at bowerman@glendale.edu for more information.

So, join in and make our Guild even stronger! Take that step; you may like it.