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Governor Says...

"They are essentially saying, take our deal or leave it.' That's not a negotiation, that's an ultimatum." (BOSTON GLOBE 8/9/95). This is Governor Weld's response to a mandated provision of the national welfare reform plan which the governor dislikes. The governor, however "cherishes" a small part of Massachusetts' reform provision and says "he was only 'fighting for the high ground'."

Juxtapose that statement to the "orders" from the governor through Administration and Finance (A&F) that the community colleges are to distribute the economic offer according to A&F's directions. No negotiations allowed. As Walt Whitman said in Song of Myself, "Do I contradict myself?/very well then I contradict myself,/ I am large, I contain multitudes./ I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world."

Just when the MCCC and the community colleges thought they had a completed contract, Administration and Finance (A&F) intervened and began discharging directives that have been unheard of since public higher education gained the right to bargain collectively with the commonwealth. There is no question that A&F has always been the purveyor of the baseline money proposal. The Higher Education Coordinating Council (formerly the Regents), would bargain a contract that included the distribution of a pay package. Once agreement was reached, both parties would sign the agreement, and the employer (HECC') would submit the salary package to the governor. The governor would then submit a pay bill for funding. Not with this governor!

When Governor Weld was elected, the rules changed. He refused to submit the 1990 "Christmas Eve" agreement shoved down our throats by Governor Dukakis (13.7% over four years). It took two years of planning, organizing, and coalition building to bypass the governor and bring the contract funding for nearly all state employees directly to the legislature. It was the second contract out of four since 14,80 that the MCCC was unable to bargain advancement on the salary schedule due to circumstances it could not control. Percentage increases were across the board. Thus, unit members at the bottom received considerably fewer dollars than those at the top.

This spring the MCCC and the presidents agreed to a compacted salary schedule (19-steps) and step advancement on the salary schedule. Both parties realized that this was the best way of ending, over a short period, salary inequities within the unit. When the presidents and their chief spokesperson, Attorney Henry Stewart, began meeting with A&F Secretary Charles Baker and his boss Joe Trainer, the presidents and the MCCC soon came to the startlingly realization that A&F was going to dictate distribution of the money. Since then, the MCCC Team and the presidents have met to put together proposals they believed were acceptable.

While the MCCC was waiting to hear A&F's response to its latest proposal in June, the state college's submitted their ratified and executed agreement to the governor for submission to the legislature. Their economic package was a four-year offer of 0%-2.50/0 bonus-4.25%-4.25%. When the agreement was presented to the governor at the end of June, he petulantly withdrew his economic offer, and he presented a freshly baked offer from the gubernatorial oven.

In July the MCCC Team met with President Scibelli (STCC), Chair of the Presidents Labor Relations Committee, Henry Stewart, and Attorney Cynthia Denehy. The MCCC officially received the "new" offer of 0%-0%-2.5%-4.75%- 4.25%, all on base. The presidents presented the offer to the MCCC and recommended that the MCCC accept it. The presidents said they could no longer support the MCCC in is quest for a compressed salary schedule and steps. The money would have to be distributed across the board according to A&F's directions.

The MCCC Team immediately rejected the proposal, and, on August 21, it met to discuss a counterproposal. The Team submitted a counterproposal which eliminated the compacted salary schedule but kept the steps intact. A response is expected from Stewart sometime after September 5.

On August 25, the MCCC Board met. The motion to recommend that each chapter vote on a work-to-rule motion was once Board recommended work-to-rule for all chapters. The Board subsequently rescinded the motion when the presidents withdrew their egregious take-back package. It was agreed at that time, however, that this motion would return if negotiations broke down. Because of the state of negotiations, MCCC President Tom Parsons felt that this motion should return to the Board for debate at its August meeting.

After a lengthy discussion, the Board voted to table the motion until its October meeting. The Executive Committee will bring to the September Board meeting a comprehensive political action plan encompassing the day and the DCE contract (See article on the "Anti-Bargainer."). On September 29, a statewide meeting of chapter presidents is scheduled to discuss the

The MCCC team has made Its position clear to the presidents. Movement on a salary schedule is imperative and is the foundation to these negotiations. The commitment to remain steadfast ultimately rests with you-the membership.

Though K-12 schools opened this week with few contract disputes, public higher education finds itself with four locals, all in different stages of bargaining turmoil due to gubernatorial and administrative recalcitrance and reneging of signed deals. (See Bargaining Update put out by Team Chair Dennis Fitzgerald for bargaining status of other locals.) Each chapter will call a meeting within the next two weeks. A fair distribution of the pay package is paramount; it is up to the membership to join in a unified campaign to attain that goal.

A New Kind of Trustee?

It has, no doubt, always been like this. Maybe we have not raised our voices often enough. Usually unsavory politics comes in small clusters, scattered throughout the system. Sometimes it makes the news; other times it is ho hummed--part of the system.

But, this time is different. This is not a little flurry of activity "using political position for political favors." It is flagrant and ominous.

In May, the Board of Trustees at Massasoit Community College elected a new chair, Attorney Larry Novak, Treasurer of the Republican State Committee. At that meeting, the trustees voted to abolish the Executive Committee and restructure the Finance Committee. Instead of a subcommittee, the Finance Committee will consist of the entire Board of Trustees.

Within weeks, a foreboding sign appeared. On the job vacancy board, a posting for Assistant to the Executive Vice President was dated prior to the reorganization that established the new position of Executive Vice President. At that point, most people already knew who was "in line" for the new position.

When the reorganization notice was distributed to the college community in mid-June, salary increases for a certain "few" employees were announced (See below.). In some instances, new positions were created without benefit of a posting, thereby preventing anyone from applying. In fact, the only position posted was the Dean of Students. Also, and in some instances, there were double promotions - people jumping over the Associate Deans rank. Some even leap-frogged into completely new jobs. While their salaries fell within the ranges allowed by the nonunit handbook, the salary increases exceeded the maximum 25% increase for internal promotions.

In the politics of this reorganization, the Asst. Dean of Student Affairs became the Dean of Student Affairs, and he received the former Dean's salary. In the instance of S. Jones, a counselor, she became the Assistant Registrar but she did not receive the former Assistant Registrar' s salary of $45,226.

So what makes these changes so different than other increases given to administrators throughout the system, usually in the quiet of summer? One is the size of the increases. In light of what has been going on with collective bargaining and in DCE bargaining, the size of some raises is unconscionable. Plus when and if the MCCC gets a funded contract, these select employees will also get additional raises.

A second concern revolves around the trustee chair and the extent of his involvement in the college.

The Louison Board Room, the most frequently used room on campus for meetings and social functions, both internal and external, was redecorated under the aegis of the trustee chair. He then ordered the room closed to faculty and staff, and designated the room for the exclusive use of the trustees.

In spring, the college hired Paul Burns part-time for "Enrollment Outreaching" (position not posted). He is rumored to be a friend of the trustee chair.

In July, for the first time in the history of the college, a person was hired on a two-year contract. Constance Burns, the wife of Paul Burns, also rumored to be a friend of the trustee chair, was hired as Assistant to the Executive Vice President at a salary of $67,000. The Dean of Administrative Services took a cost-savings sabbatical through December, 1995. When he returns, he will find that not only his job has been abolished, but the entire Division of Administrative Services has been eliminated.

Then Larry Overlan, rumored to be a friend of the trustee chair, came on the Canton campus as the Business Institute Officer (position not posted). Overlan is the president and executive director of the New England Institute for Public Policy. He is also co-author of Time for a Change; The return of the Republican Party in Massachusetts (See Overlan's article on support of a voucher system in The Boston Sunday Globe, 8127/95 "Learning Section.". He is also an adjunct professor at Stonehill College. Mr. Overlan was hired at the college on an "01" line as a part-timer at $19/hour, 30 hours/week WITH benefits.

In June the trustee chair began his own TV program on the college's cable network. The show, "Politically Speaking" is a interview talk show hosted by Trustee Chair Larry Novak, and it airs three times a week. The director of the TV studio, Tim Trask, stated, "Mr. Novak has agreed to conduct his show according to the guidelines that have been set up for cable TV shows." This show may be legal, but the questions of propriety abound.

The college is hiring approximately seven new unit members, and the politics within the college cannot be dismissed. It certainly cannot be said that all people who get jobs because of political connections are not qualified; that is clearly not the case. But connect political dots with politically motivated hirings and promotions, and strange lines begin to appear on the landscape of the institution.

	Old Position	New Position	Old Salary	New Salary	Increase	% Inc.
L. Colombo	Dean of College Operations	Exec. V.P.	$75,032	$85,000	$9,968	13%
B. O'Leary	Asst. Dean of College Operations	Dean of College Operations	54,538	76,000	21,462	39%
P. Principe	Asst. Registrar	Assoc. Dean Student Services & Dir./Canton Campus	45,226	65,000	19,774	44%
E. Stewart	Dir. & Advis. & Counseling	Asst. Dean of STudent Affairs	46,440	60,000	13,560	29%
S. Jones	Counselor	Asst. Registrar	30,629	35,000	4,371	14%
J. Murphy	Asst. Dean Student Affairs	Dean Student Affairs	49,956	75,000	25,044	50%
B. Mercomes	Div. Chair	Asst. Dean	45,064	60,000	14,936	33%
B. Finklestein	Div. Chair	Asst. Dean	51,254	60,000	8,746	17%

Conor Johnston, Massasoit Faculty Association President, says, "In my sixteen years at Massasoit, I have seen people demoralized on several occasions by stalled contract negotiations. I have, however, never before experienced anything like the cynicism and low morale that currently pervades the Massasoit campus. Custodial staff, secretaries, teaching staff, and professional staff--none of whom have received a salary increase since June of 1992--are openly bitter and sardonic about the recent largely inordinate pay increases that Massasoit administrators have given themselves. Massasoit staff are similarly bitter and sardonic about the recent activities of the college's Board of Trustees.

"While it is clear that a small number of the administrative pay increases may be justifiable, the general feeling at the college is that most of them are a cruel and greedy farce.

"The activities of the Board of Trustees go even beyond greed and farce into the realm of the ethically unacceptable. For example, never before has the college had or needed an "Assistant to the Executive Vice President." But we have one now! She has been hired recently at a salary of $67,000 per annum, on an unprecedented two-year (as opposed to the normal initial one-year) contract.

"Never before has the college had a part-time Enrollment Outreaching person. But we have one now! He is also the husband of the new Assistant to the Executive Vice President.

"For years, the college has had only one part-time employee on the "01" payroll receiving benefits. We did not think we would even have another part-timer in that somewhat irregular situation. But we have one now! He is(l)on the "0 1" payroll(2) receives benefits(prorated),and(3)is paid $19 an hour for a 30-hour work week as the Business Institute Officer (The full-time equivalent for that salary is nearly $30,000 per annum.). Meanwhile, the remaining scores of part-time workers at Massasoit are on the "03" payroll, make far than $19 an hour, and receive no benefits.

"Never before has Massasoit had a political talk show (politically Speaking") on its cable TV channel hosted by the Chair of the Board of Trustees. But we have one now!

"Never before has Massasoit had a chairman of the Board of Trustees who attempted to take over a major college meeting venue for the exclusive use of the Board of Trustees. But we have one now! [This was recently reversed by the president.]

"Never before has Massasoit had a Faculty Association president who billed his union for anti-nausea medication. But we have one now!

"One would think that changes of this magnitude would be brought before the entire Board of Trustees. One can only speculate as to who is running the college."

Down the road at Bristol Community College a controversy swirls around the day care center. The college established a screening panel to review bids and sent three recommendations to the president, Eileen Farley. The president then submitted her recommendation that differed from the committee's recommendation to the Trustees. When the trustees chose the Boyd Center, the other two bidders, United Front and Kiddie Kampus) expressed their concerns about the process and the New Bedford Standard Times covered the controversy.

It would appear from an outsider's perspective, that politics could have entered into the fray. If it did not, the involvement of trustees in colleges beyond what is stated in the law, allows for the appearance of inappropriateness to prevail. The contract for the day care center was awarded to the Boyd Center. This company is run by Sister Kathleen Harringon, a Bristol Community College Trustee. The three-year contract to provide day care services for the school is worth an estimated $100,000. Sister Kathleen Karrington has been a member of the college's Board of Trustees since 1992.

The Anti-Bargainer Strikes Again?

Now the paradox. On the one hand, the MCCC finds itself in a unsettling situation where up to recently, the union and the presidents were working as a "team" to bring a good day contract to closure. One the other hand, DCE bargaining languishes.

The MCCC has met the counterpart to A&F-the presidents. The presidents, and only the presidents, can bring bargaining to a close. There is no governor, legislature, or HECC to use as obstacles to end bargaining. The presidents, when bargaining over a decent salary increase, do an about face.

In the March issue of the MCCC Newsletter, the DCE Bargaining Team alerted MCCC members to the anti-bargaining approach of the college presidents. Since that time, little has happened to alter the anti-bargainer image of the presidents.

While the MCCC has made two substantial salary proposals, the employer has moved little from their "take it or leave it" stance. Currently the DCE Team has two salary options on the table:

Option I. Compensate unit members equal to the increases negotiated by their sister unit in the state colleges: a total of 26-27% over three years, or

Option II. Agree to an 18% increase over three years of the agreement and provide for an offer to teach a second course to those unit members who have seniority status.

The college presidents propose that DCE unit members agree to an 1 1.5% salary increase over five (5) years --a little more than 2% per year. Compared with their previous proposal (7% over four years), the presidents have increased their last proposal by a whooping .08%.

The presidents' spokesperson, Henry Stewart, stated that the presidents believe they can hire a long list of waiting DCE faculty at the current salary level and, therefore, have no incentive to provide either equitable salary increases or an opportunity to teach a second course to current faculty. Obviously quality of education is not a criterion; making more money is.

With little prospect of any real movement from the presidents, the DCE Team has initiated mediation. The MCCC Team has heard much discussion about the presidents apparent change at the day bargaining table. Unfortunately, at the DCE table where the presidents have total autonomy to act, the Team has seen nothing but an anti-bargaining stance. The Team intends to participate fully in the mediation process to bring about a negotiated agreement.

Report your Blue Cross Dental Woes?

Anyone having a complaint or concern about the Blue Cross Dental plan and coverage should direct his or her comments to

Abe Sherf,
North Shore Community College.

He is the community college representative on the Health and Welfare Trust Fund.

Aug. 22	Dean's recommendation for spring leave of absence
Aug. 22	Spring sabbatical recommendations due from president
Aug. 30	Earliest professional day can be assigned
Sep. 5	Earliest classes can begin
Sep. 5	Faculty submit office hours
Sep. 8	Full-time Schedule changes due chapter
Sep. 8	Faculty post office hours
Sep. 15	Sick days accumulation list released
Sep. 15	Faculty submit materials submitted

N.B. Dates may vary depending on first day of classes. Also, most of these dates are "last date" standards. In many instances, the action can he accomplished before the date indicated.

MCCC Newsletter Editor: Catherine A. Boudreau MCCC/MTA Newsletter 20 Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108

The MCCC Newsletter is a publication of the Massachusetts Community College Council. The Newsletter is intended to be an information source for the members of the MCCC and for other interested parties. The material in this publication may be reprinted with the acknowledgment of its source. For further information on issues discussed in this publication, contact Catherine Boudreau, Massasoit Community College, Brockton, MA 02402.

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