Longy Faculty Union Membership Meeting    

Friday, June 11, 2010

Present: 14 LFU members, and LFU Field Representative, Diane Frey

LFU President Clay Hoener called the meeting to order at 12:05 PM

Minutes of the last membership meeting, which had been approved by the Board, were passed out.  It was announced that these minutes had been posted on the website.

Ground rules for discussion were agreed upon.

Clay reported that the LFU is taking a multipronged approach to working on a contract. So far we have been given the right to have a bulletin board at the school and to meet at the school when space is available. Our meeting today was the first General Meeting on the school grounds, and today was the first time that our Field Representative, Diane Frey, has met with us on school grounds. We continue to connect with outside organizations and people who can help, and we are looking out for and supporting people who have been affected by the restructuring.

Shizue Sano gave the Treasurer's report. We now have 54 members.

This writer reported as Communications Committee Chair that it has been challenging to try to ascertain ways to listen to faculty opinions and communicate messages from the Board to membership while satisfying some members' desire for information and other members' wish not to be overwhelmed with incoming messages. The newsletter has been sent out, we have used a phone tree, and recently have offered virtual "office hours". These are specific hours that different board members have set aside specifically to answer the phone to talk about issues related to the Union. Upcoming "office hours" were announced.

Clay reported that the Negotiating Committee has held six meetings with the administration. The proposals we have submitted so far have been non-financial and have related to hiring procedures, student recruitment and retention, non-discrimination, consultation communication, recognition of the Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU), professional development, personnel files, health and safety, no strike-no lockout, just cause (having to do with fair procedures for firing), use of school equipment, grievance, Union rights, and a savings clause (to ensure that if one item on the contract changes the other items are not affected).

We're still waiting for information so that we can present a financial proposal to the administration.

We do not have Labor delegates yet.

We do not have public correspondence, but the Board has received copies of letters being sent to Longy by members of the community.

Diane Frey gave a short summary of the purpose of current proposals being submitted. The proposals use elements that had been present in our handbooks in the past as a basis and make them firmer. The nature of a first contract in general is not to look for a large wage increase but to lay solid groundwork from which we can build later.

The floor was opened for discussion. The question was raised about why we aren't using Bard's contract as a guideline; the suggestion was made that Bard might offer a better contract than we might negotiate. The Board welcomed this suggestion and will look into obtaining a copy of the Bard contract, although the Board has not received an official update about the Bard merger.

People spoke in favor of the Negotiating Committee goals.

Clay inquired about peoples' opinions on the topic of teacher evaluations. Concerns were expressed about evaluations being done by Chairs who did not teach a faculty member’s instrument or age group. Different possibilities were discussed that could help ensure a fair and transparent process and that would serve to help teachers develop and grow in their work. Different possibilities were discussed about whether teacher evaluations should be related to compensation. Peer evaluation, checks and balances among different types of evaluations, and using "training sessions" as part of the process were among the ideas discussed.

Diane Frey told us about different types of membership rules that are in place in different unions: “closed shop”, “union shop”, “agency shop”, and “open shop”.  Regardless of type of membership rules agreed upon, all members of the CBU, whether in the Union or not, would benefit from the Union contract. In the discussion following Diane’s presentation a number of people spoke in favor of the “agency shop” type of membership in which every member of the CBU pays either full dues to join the Union or an agency fee. 

Student placement was discussed briefly, and changes in the process of student placement that have developed over the last years were mentioned. The question of how student placement should be prioritized was discussed.

The meeting adjourned at 2:05 PM.

Respectfully submitted, 
Deborah Yardley Beers 
Secretary, Longy Faculty Union