From Joe LeBlanc, MCCC President

1. Classification Task Force: Since my last update, I have fielded a number of questions about the 75th percentile, etc. in a variety of forums. Here is the latest news about our #1 priority -
   
   BHE Chair Fred Clark and Governor Patrick's Special Education Advisor Dana Mohler Faria met with Governor Patrick yesterday afternoon. They reviewed the MCCC's and state college salary analyses in some detail. The Governor asked questions and seemed generally supportive about the importance of this issue to our faculty and professional staff. Clark said, "The Governor worked diligently during the meeting to fully understand the scope and impact of the study's conclusions."
   
   Critical points were driven home about about the issues of equity, recruitment and retention. At the end of the meeting, the Governor recommended, as expected, the next step. Chair Clark and President Mohler Faria will meet with Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwin.
   
   Earlier this morning, I spoke with Chair Clark. He said the meeting with Secretary Kirwin will take place soon and that he remains committed to pushing this issue. While we are a long way from the promised land of 75th percentile salary increases, we continue to make incremental progress.
   
   How you can help: Raise this issue again and again with your college president, trustees and administrators. While the presidents have been very supportive to date, it never hurts to reinforce this message again and again.
   
   Here are those classification- and salary-related questions, etc.:

• Members want the 13.85 percent now. The Classification Report, now endorsed by the BHE, suggests that it be paid out over a 5 year period. This 13.85 percent would be in addition to normal collective bargaining increases. While everyone wants the money now, paying it in full all at once would cost more than $15 million. This would be difficult in the best of times, but is especially challenging in the current fiscal climate.
• How will the raises be distributed? It will be basically be done via regular market updates by a combination of raising the starting minimum salaries and increasing the value of the points.
• Soon-to-be retired members want the increases to count towards their pensions. We have had informal discussions about this with the BHE. They are receptive to date. You may recall that something was done to help retirees in our 1999-2002 Agreement.
• If the efforts of the Classification Task force fail, we should return to the four course load. Doing this unilaterally would be tantamount to a strike. Our present Agreement ends in June, 2009. This issue will likely be a top priority in contract talks about a year from now if our present Classification efforts fail.
• We should set the 75th percentile levels in the contract. By state statute, the legislature cannot commit to salary increases beyond a three year period. We have numerous opinions from MTA Legal about this issue.
• What about the re-opener? The re-opener filed several months ago demands the .8 percent that we are owed because our salary increases (3.0 percent of payroll) trail those of the other higher ed. unions (3.8 percent) for FY '08. This re-opener is still alive, though it has placed on hold until the work of the Classification Task force plays out over the next few weeks.

2. Health insurance contributions: This battle is far from over. I know we have about a hundred signatures on a petition that has been sent to the Speaker of the House. While the outlook has improved, I am not convinced that we have yet  prevailed in the House. And if the House adopts the Governor's plan to shift to a 3-tier plan with its draconian increases, the battle then shifts in the Senate. Senate President Terry Murray has promised to oppose the increases. This is good news. The Senate may oppose the increases in its version of the budget. When this issue goes to conference committee, however, they are likely to COMPROMISE, meaning an increase of some sort for us.
   
   How you can help: We must do everything possible to kill this plan in the House. Please stay in touch with your state representative weekly until the House adopts its budget in late April. Let your local SAC rep. and MCCC Vice President Donnie McGee know what you learn. Together we can make a difference.
   
   
3. Licenses and Certifications: Management has named its members. Meetings have been set for April and May with two main agenda goals for the short-term:
1. Review all new requests for new licenses and certifications titles submitted last fall. This is for licenses and certifications that were not in the original report.
2. Set up an appeals process to review specific member requests that were denied by Chief Academic Officers last semester.
   
   
4. MCCC Delegate Assembly: All members are encouraged to attend our Delegate Assembly set for Saturday, April 26 beginning at 9 a.m. at the Worcester Crowne Plaza Hotel. Our agenda will include budget adoption, proposed bylaw changes, special awards and various reports and discussion. A continental breakfast and buffet lunch will be served. Contact your chapter leaders today. Your participation will make a difference.
   
   
5. DCE Bargaining: The deadline for participating in the DCE Online Bargaining Survey has been extended to April 15. If you have already participated, thank you. If you have not, look for another reminder postcard to arrive at your home next week. If you would like to complete the survey today, contact your chapter president, who has been given the link. The team is developing its demand package. Formal negotiations begin later this month.
   

• Classification Task Force: After a supportive introduction by BHE Chair Fred Clark, the Board of Higher Education voted on Feb. 29 to accept the recommendations of the classification 75th percentile analysis done by Archer and Company. The report, jointly funded by the MCCC and the college presidents, points out that we are trailing the 75th percentile salaries of peer institutions and states by 13.85 percent and suggests that the gap be made up by increasing our point values in regular updates over a five year period.
  
  These salary increases would be in addition to any regular contractual increases. For example, our present contract calls for salary increases totaling 3 percent of payroll in FY '08 and FY'09. We are fighting for additional increases in our point values to allow us to reach the 75th percentile of peer institutions and states.
  
  Where we go from here: The report adopted by the BHE has been formally sent to Special Education Advisor Dana Mohler-Faria. We will soon meet with Dr. Mohler Faria to be followed by a meeting with Governor Patrick and officials from Administration and Finance.
  
  
• It's Time for "House Calls": The MCCC is fighting the Governor's proposal to increase our health insurance contribution rates. The plan would change the system from a two-tiered to a three-tiered plan with a maximum rate of 25 percent. State House sources tell us that we do have a chance to prevail in the House budget, but we cannot win without your support. Spreadsheets have been provided to chapter leaders with member names and their state rep's contact information. Please call TODAY. This issue is very important and your grassroots support is critical if we are to succeed.
  
  To find House members names and contact info, please follow this link: http://www.mass.gov/legis/legis.htm
  
  Your call should be brief and does not need to take longer than a couple of minutes. The message is simple: "I urge Rep. XXXXX to oppose the Governor's plan to increase the state employees health insurance contribution rates." Office phones should not be used, but cell phones are fine, of course. Unless you  have a personal relationship with your rep and he/she personally answers your emails, don't bother using emails, as they are too easily ignored.
  
  
• Emerging Leaders: Congratulations to our soon-to-be graduates of the NEA's Emerging Leaders Academy - Claudine Barnes (Cape Cod), Mike D'Entremont (Bunker Hill) and Joe O'Neill (MassBay). The three graduates will be honored at the NEA's Higher Education Conference in Washington, DC later this month.
  
  
• MCCC DA: All members are invited to attend our Delegate Assembly set for April 26 at the Worcester Crowne Plaza Hotel. What should you expect? Well, the DA is charged with adopting our budget. We also will have a number of by-law change proposals and plenty of other reports, special awards and lunch, of course. Contact your chapter president today if you are interested in attending.
  
  
• Emerging Chapter Leaders Organizing Program: Thanks to funding from an NEA organizing grant, the MCCC is planing a one day workshop for emerging chapter leaders.  If you are are interested in becoming more involved with our union at the chapter level, our ECLOP program is just the place for you. The workshop will take place at the MCCC Office after the end of the spring semester. Watch for details about this exciting new program in my next update.
  
  
• PHENOM postcard drive: MCCC Directors have been asked to distribute postcards in support of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts and its "Fix it, Fund it and Afford It" campaign. Please encourage members to take as many cards as possible and distribute in classes, etc. Cards should be returned to your director, who will deliver them to the MCCC on March 28. Last year, PHENOM activists delivered more than 10,000 postcards to the Governor's office. It was a great event with photo coverage from the Boston Globe in support of public higher education.
  
  
• DCE Negotiations Survey: Adjunct and other DCE faculty should receive a DCE negotiations survey reminder postcard within the next week or so. Our DCE online bargaining survey will be conducted during the week of March 24. We expect negotiations to begin by mid-April, and your input is important as we prepare our demand package.
  
  
• Higher Education Bond bill: The Governor's higher education capital spending bill has recently moved out of the Higher Education Committee with a favorable recommendation. The bill would provide significant capital funds for every community college. It is expected to be enacted into law during this session. Special Education Advisor Dana Mohler Faria speaks about the importance of the bill and related education issues at this link:
  
  http://www.enterprisenews.com/sports/college/x1300267259?view=print
  
  
• New Webpage: Thanks to Cape Cod CC faculty member Gail Guarino, her students and our webmaster, Phil Mahler, the MCCC's website is looking better than ever these days. This page is a wonderful source of news about our union and everything we do. Check it out today at this link:
  http://mccc-union.org/

• A letter has been sent to Administration and Finance (A and F) to argue for our classification increases. This is part of the normal process for all state agencies. As you know, an independent consultant has confirmed the MCCC's 75th Percentile data to indicate that our salaries trail our peer institutions by 13.85 percent.
  
• BHE Chair Fred Clark will arrange a follow-up meeting with A and F to discuss their initial response.
  
• Chair Clark will arrange a meeting with Special Education Advisor Dana Mohler-Faria to discuss our classification issues.
  
• Dr. Mohler-Faria will arrange a meeting with Gov. Patrick to discuss our classification issues.
  
• We will pitch our case to the BHE.
  
• The Presidents Council will ask the community college trustees association to endorse our proposal.
  
• None of this includes our request for the re-opener. Our goal with the re-opener is to receive the 0.8 percent difference between our salary increases (3 percent of payroll) for FY'08 and those agreed to and funded for the other higher ed. unions earlier this year.