Sign Here, Or Else

On December 20^th, in a communication to the membership titled “Contract Signing,” AFA President Charles Loiacono apprised all adjuncts that some chairs were trying to get members to sign individual contracts before January 11, 12, and 13. Those are the dates previously designated by the administration for contract signing. He also quoted Article 17 of the AFA contract that prohibits such changes without an advance notice of one semester.

Now comes an e-mail from the chair of Physical Science declaring that if individual contracts are not signed on January 6^th those contracts will be given to someone else.

Such an attempt at intimidation is not only obvious, it violates the AFA contract. When will they learn that such threats merely rankle? Adjuncts have proven time and time again that they will not be intimidated.

The adjunct faculty has until January 13^th to sign individual contracts—that is, if they wish to teach in the spring semester. If an adjunct decides to sign by the 13^th and is told that his classes were assigned to someone else because he observed the administration’s prescribed dates, the union will file a grievance and demand full payment for the semester. We have countless arbitration decisions awarding such payment when there is a contract violation.

This attempt at intimidation by the chair of the Physical Science department is made in the hope of preempting the vote of the AFA membership on January 8^th. If he were to succeed, other chairs might attempt the same kind of intimidation. This is a chair collaborating with trustees who fear the vote the AFA membership will take on January 8^th. At that meeting, the adjunct faculty will voice their true feelings about the trustees plan to reduce the college to an adult education center, increase adjunct loads, increase types of penalties for perceived infractions, reduce adjunct salaries, and break the AFA.

Turning the college into an adult education center should be the concern of the entire college community. The chairs should be joining us in this fight to preserve the college, not playing lackey to John Gross and reckless trustees.