Nursing/Allied Health Arbitration

April 3 Update
Arbitration Hearings began on April 2 with Victoria Bozzuto, Allied Health Division Director at Gateway, testifying. Vicki said that it's difficult to recruit faculty for Allied Health programs because the starting salary is so low compared to what qualified individuals can make in the private sector. She said her division has unfilled faculty positions and that searches for new faculty can continue for years. She has had several allied health faculty members resign, usually in the first 2 to 4 years when they realize the workload is substantial and the pay is comparatively low.

Testimony continued on April 3 with Leona Pie, Nursing Faculty at Capital. Lee detailed the roles and responsibilities of various nursing instructors, both clinical and academic. Lee also relayed difficulties in hiring qualified staff. She said she is on her third consecutive search committee and that looking for faculty is a continuous process. She said the community colleges offer about $48,000 a year, while a similarly credentialed nurse (with a Masters Degree) could get $90,000 in the private sector.

Mary Schuler, Nursing Division Director at Norwalk, and Jim Pronovost, Radiography Program Director at Naugatuck Valley also testified on April 3. Testimony is scheduled to continue on April 4.

March 5 Update
4C's and AFT nursing and allied health members met on March 1 at Gateway Community College to discuss next steps in their reopener. Management's "conceptual proposal" was reviewed. It basically consists of having faculty teach 15 credits per semester instead of the current 12 credits (additional responsibilities would remain the same). In exchange for teaching the additional credits, additional steps would be added to the top of the salary grid. "A 20% workload increase in exchange for a 10% increase in compensation," summarized 4C's President Steve Cohen.

Not surprising, members reacted negatively to this proposal and decided to proceed to arbitration. Arbitration hearings are scheduled for April 2, 3, and 4.

November 13 Update from 4C's President Steve Cohen
At the November 13 negotiating session, management finally responded to our proposals. They rejected outright eighteen of the twenty-two items we proposed, including even the one that stipulates our members be paid on a timely basis. In effect, they claimed paying people every two weeks is beyond their ability.

With regard to the remaining four proposals, they did not make counter-proposals. Instead, they offered “conceptual frameworks,” without specific details, which boiled down to not much.

Remember that our proposals were developed over the summer via meetings and discussions on our campuses, culminating in the systemwide meeting at Gateway’s North Haven campus. We circulated these proposals for member review and comment, and we presented them to management in mid-September. At that time, we arranged negotiating sessions. We were well prepared.

On the other hand, management did not appear for the late September session, claiming they did not know it had been confirmed. At our October 29 session, they were late and questioned which groups of members were to be included in the negotiation. Most recently, they cancelled the November 20 negotiating session as they still were not prepared to offer proposals that day.

Were management students, we’d note that they:
•    did not understand the assignment, but also did not ask for clarification
•    skipped a class
•    were late to a subsequent class
•    were unprepared for class when they did appear on time
•    claimed the work is too difficult for them to accomplish

Given that our managers are capable people, their motivation to bargain seriously must be called into question.

In fact, unless management changes their behavior, I do not believe we will be able to complete the obviously necessary arbitration in time to get our Contract into this year’s regular session of the General Assembly.

October 29 Update from 4C's President Steve Cohen:
October 29, we had our first Nursing/Allied Health negotiating session with the BOT's representatives.

Their attorney arrived an hour late, and they did not come prepared to respond to or discuss our contract demands. Instead, they chose to spend the time trying to identify exactly what "Allied Health" refers to. Clearly, this question could have been posed and dealt with previously. We'll finish defining "Allied Health" at our next meeting, and then we'll move on to the substance of the negotiations.

The schedule of future negotiating sessions, all to be held at the 4C's office, is as follows:

> CANCELLED: Tuesday, November 20
> New date to be determined

Please attend any and all sessions your schedules permit.

4C's and AFT members in the Allied Health, Dental, and Nursing fields are working together in negotiations on compensation and retention issues. Colleges have been having difficulties hiring and keeping these employees because of significantly higher salaries in the private sector.

If you have questions or concerns, contact 4C's organizer David Bosco, 860-296-5172 or e-mail david@the4cs.org.

 Coming to Negotiations? Get directions to the Union Office

See Photos from the first meeting