It was two steps back yesterday at negotiations. Bob Goudie, who was the business manager (administrative dean) for decades used to negotiate for the administration. We did not have an easy time with Bob. Often there were conflicts and often movement was slow. We went to mediation with PERC three times. But bob kept his eye on the prize. He worked toward settlement. Once he took an item off the table, he did not put it back on later. And once we had an agreement on an item, he did not change his mind later. And once we began the process, he did not add new proposed changes.

Joe Rossi’s style is different. At Tuesday’s negotiation with Support staff, Joe took away one agreements saying that it was “part of a package”. In another case he said, “We will have to see how it works out with the ‘give-backs’”. He also added a new proposal that would cut health benefits. After Joe and his two assistants left, one comment was, “That’s bullshit!” There were also comments related to the fact that it was Halloween. Penny wanted to end negotiations at that point and walk out, but Dom talked her into continuing.

So we started at 1:30 and there were a couple of back-and-forth’s with long breaks in between. We were waiting for Joe to return with a counter proposal, but at 5:15, I left to teach in Cape May. At 5:30 Culinary was scheduled to be up. Dom called me while I was teaching and I returned his call at 9:00 pm. They were still negotiating. Dom said Joe’s proposals were not as bad as Dom expected. I do not know if there was progress with that contract or not. The next negotiations session is scheduled for Tuesday November 7 at 1:00 and the Culinary contract will be up first. It there is time, we will work on another contract.

A very big road block to settlement is Joe. Look at recent job posting and you will see the working conditions that he would like employees to have. At the end of the posting, it says, “May require flexible hours between 7 am and 11 pm, Monday through Saturday, at any one of the three ACCC campuses”. To be able to take a job with those requirements, you would have to be able to work any time from 7 am to 11 pm. That is 16 hours. And that would be any day, except Sunday. And you may be assigned to Mays Landing, Cape May Court House, or Atlantic City with no travel money. That is 96 hours a week, any day of the week, you could be called in to work at any location. You would be on call to work almost any time of the day six days a week

You can imagine a ratification meeting where we brought that back to the membership. There would be blood everywhere. We will never bring that back, and if we did, it would never be ratified. We could have settled last May by “rolling over” the present contracts and agreeing on a money settlement. On the other hand we could still be negotiating next year if those proposals are not withdrawn.

No other college has the working conditions Joe is asking for. I do not think this is an issue with the Board or with the President. I think Joe is pushing for these changes to make a name for himself in the State. Pete likes to delegate, but that does not mean Pete is not responsible for the behavior of those he delegates to. It is time for him to step in and end this bullshit. This is a huge waste of time and talent. The fat lady is waiting to sing. Will Parsons, the Unity Negotiations Team Coordinator