Each of our weekly messages include a quick survey on your thoughts about the current District and AFT proposals on an issue by issue basis (see Negotiation FAQs).
After reading this Action Update, let us know your thoughts regarding the District’s stance on counselors’ rights and any feedback you have on our union’s proposal.
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FACT: This past Wednesday, AFT proposed contract language that allows counselors to carry out “prof time”—their 8 hours per week of preparing for appointments, updating records, and following up with students–at a time and place of their choosing. AFT also proposed that when students choose to schedule virtual counseling appointments, counselors should be able to conduct those appointments remotely. FACT: The District rejected BOTH of AFT’s proposals, with District Chief Negotiator Randy Erickson saying: “The location of where paid services go—that’s management’s decision.” In other words, the District wants deans to be able to force counselors to be in their offices to take remote appointments. They also want to control where and when counselors do non-student-contact work such as email follow-up with students. |
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FAIRNESS? As AFT negotiator Monica Malamud pointed out at Wednesday’s Board meeting, the District’s insistence on dictating where counselors carry out their work creates inequities among faculty. Our contract allows instructors to teach online from wherever they want and to do prep and grading at a place and time of their choosing. Why is the District treating counselors differently? |
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EQUITY! SMCCCD counselors share their thoughts about the District’s insistence on controlling where they do prof time and where they take remote appointments: “We (counselors) pour our hearts into the work we do with students. As faculty, we live by a professional and ethical code. When the District forces us to come into the office to write an email, it shows a lack of respect and trust for counseling faculty and diminishes our spirit.
—Lorraine DeMello, FT counselor
—Brianna Clay, FT counselor
“As an adjunct living far from Skyline College, and required to be in-person 50% of my —PT counselor
– Kevin Sinarle, FT counselor |