The United Negotiations Team met with Board representatives Joe Rossi and Karen Beckman at 10:30 in J 245 on March 24. At that meeting Dom Nigro presented the proposed changes in the Support Staff (SSAACCC) contract. That proposal is a twenty-seven page document. Penny Wells and others spent days working on it. Representing the Unity Negotiations Team were Penny Wells, Michelle Bevan, Mitch Mischlich, Ed Perkins, Rhonda Petruzzi, Heather Peterson, and Will Parsons. After caucusing for an hour Joe Rossi said they would not be able to respond to the Support Staff proposal that day.

The Support Staff contract is often the most difficult to get agreement on. One reason is the number of different kinds of jobs in the group. In the past, Support Staff would get a board negotiator of less rank and be told that there was no money left because the faculty took it all. These days when we negotiate together, the Administration can not play that game.

Submitted by Will Parsons, Coordinator of the United Negotiations Team

In the second session, Joe Rossi introduced Karen Beckman, newly hired Director of Institutional Research. She will probably be sitting with Joe for the rest of the sessions and probably will be mostly observing.

Joe gave written responses to the faculty proposal and went over each item. The responses were “hold” and “denied”. “Denied” is obvious, but the proposal is not dead. It is still “on the table” until the faculty withdraw it. The proposal could be verbally withdrawn or, if the Team does not bring it up again, it “falls off the table.” “Hold” means it is neither accepted nor denied. One reason for a “hold” may be to gather more information or to ask an administrator about it. For instance, Joe put a hold on the proposals on changes in the nurse’s working position until a Chair of that department is announced. He would have to confer with that chair and other administrators before agreeing to any change.

The next scheduled meeting is Friday March 24 at 10:30 in J 245.

submitted by Will Parsons, Coordinator of the Unity Negotiations Team

The first negotiations session was March 7, 12:30 in J 245, the President’s Conference Room. Joe Rossi and Cindy DeFalco represented the ACCC Board of Trustees. Joe was the spokesperson. The Unity Negotiations Team was represented Michelle Bevan, Claire Farnum, Nick Ganaway, Will Parsons, Marsha Patrick, Heather Peterson, John Stratton, Jim Taggart, and Penny Wells. Please check the ACCC telephone directory for titles. Dom Nigro, from NJEA Higher Ed was the spokesperson for the Unity Team. Dom has been negotiating for us since 1974. He knows the College and our contracts well.

The session started off with discussion of the ground rules for the session – when we would meet, how often, where, and how would we handle lunch. Following the preliminaries, Dom presented the proposed changes in the Faculty contract. Some topics Dom presented involved changes in the nursing faculty working conditions, changes in counseling and librarian scheduling procedure, additional benefits, and a change in sick leave buyout that could monetarily benefit both faculty and the College. We leave most money items until later in the process because if we agreed on the money, the other side would not want to talk about any of the other issues.

Before formal negotiations began, each bargaining unit spent time writing proposed changes in their contract. Many times the proposal comes from members who have had problems with working condition. For instance, a problem recently has been reimbursement for excess travel. Members of the unit are a major source of proposed changes. In addition, this year each unit went over all four contracts looking for language in the other contracts that they would like to have in their contract. Days of preparation went into these proposals.

There are four separate bargaining units in the Atlantic Cape Community College Education Association, the Unity Group. Each bargaining unit negotiates its own contract, but members of the other units sit in on all sessions. The final step in the process will be for the members of a bargaining unit to vote on the contract and for the members of the Board to vote on the contract. The members have the final say in the contact and both sides try to work toward an agreement that will be ratified.

The process of negotiations starts with one side presenting proposed changes. The other side then caucuses for an hour or two or more and then returns to respond to the proposal and to make its own proposals. Another possibility is that the other side returns, calls an end to that negotiations session, and schedules the next session. The process is very slow and requires much patience.

Initially the members of the Unity Team are listening. Later as the process gets closer to the end, they will play a more active role. Dom Nigro is there to represent our interest. He will ask question and make suggestions, but he will do nothing on his own. The members of the Unity Team make the decisions.

At the end of the first session, both sides decided to return the next week to hear the Board’s response to the faculty proposals.

Submitted by Will Parsons, Coordinator of the Unity Negotiations Team