By Charles Loiacono     

Deceit, Perfidy, Betrayal

          It played out like a chapter from a Vince Flynn novel— characters with no souls on a mission to deceive.

            I must admit to the reader that I was taken it completely. These trustees did not see themselves as rubber stamps. They seemed committed to the good of the college. I did feel that Sean Fanelli would get back at any trustees that dared make a deal without his knowledge. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me bring you up to speed:

            The September issue of the VANGUARD read: “Settlement on English Language Institute.” My column was titled: “A New and Promising Relationship.”  The copy spoke of an agreement to drop the pending arbitration in exchange for all ELI courses being returned to AFA jurisdiction.

            Kind words were plentiful: “It is apparent to me that the college has turned the corner with this new involvement of the Board of Trustees. The manner in which we were able to solve these problems proved that mutual understanding and reasonableness can trump confrontation.”

            At the time I wrote those words, I believed them. I thought the trustees were wise when they decided to keep Sean Fanelli out of the loop. They knew we did not trust him. He had broken his word much too often to take him seriously. But, deep down I knew Fanelli would find a way to show the trustees that making a deal without him was foolhardy. I did not know how he would do it. I just knew he would. And he did!

            Here is the wording of the agreement. It was signed by Mary Adams, John LeBoutillier, and Charles Loiacono. Added later, in different type, was the name Sean Fanelli:

“It is agreed between the parties that all developmental courses (academically oriented) and assigned as English Language Institute courses under the continuing education budget will henceforth be assigned under the jurisdiction of the AFA or under the jurisdiction of the NCCFT if part of a full-time program in the fall or spring.”

            The agreement was signed in July. The wording of the agreement was Jack Ostling’s, who included the NCCFT in the deal. (They were miffed at that.)

            Ostling immediately opined that he did not think the transition could be done by September. I told him to do his best, and if it could not be done in two months, it had to be done by the spring semester. From July until November, nothing was done. Then, on November 21^st, the following memo was send from Ostling to Vice-President Bob Gaudino:

“On July 12, 2006, the College and the AFA Union entered into a Memorandum of Agreement whereby ‘developmental courses (academically oriented) and assigned as English Language Institute courses under the Lifelong Learning budget will henceforth be assigned under the jurisdiction of the AFA…In return for entering into this agreement the Union agreed to withdraw the pending grievance concerning the English Language Institute.

 “As a result of this agreement, it is the College’s intention to continue offering the ELI curriculum and to pay the faculty at the hourly rate they are currently earning. At this juncture, I would like to discuss this matter with you.”

            Now, I know that you have read non sequiturs before, but I’ll bet that you have never read one quite so nonsensical. 

         The courses in question had historically been taught under the aegis of the English and Reading Departments, and those teaching those courses were under the jurisdiction of the AFA and paid according to the contractual pay scales. The negotiations leading up to the MOA dealt with the illegal removal of these courses from AFA jurisdiction.

If the major premise, as related in the Ostling memo, is that all ELI courses will “henceforth be assigned under the jurisdiction of the AFA.”  The logical conclusion could only be that: “The college, therefore, will honor all terms and conditions of the AFA contract as it relates to all ELI courses.

                        Here’s the proper syllogism:

Henceforth ELI courses will be under the jurisdiction of the AFA.

The AFA contract details terms, conditions, and salary of all employees teaching courses under AFA jurisdiction.

Therefore, all ELI courses under AFA jurisdiction will be subject of the terms, conditions, and salary of the AFA contract.         

You need not be first in the class to know what happened here. Ostling is not unmindful of the logic in a good syllogism, but he had no intention of being logical. He was composing a good, old fashion double-cross. He knew full well what my reaction would be. More importantly, so did Fanelli.

Fanelli was not about to allow trustees to have a direct relationship with the AFA. He knew that this double-cross would bring them over to the dark side from which there is no return. It is surprising how easily Fanelli convinced the signatories to the agreement to give up their good names and reputations. He simply had Ostling present a memo claiming it would be too expensive to honor the MOA. Interestingly, Fanelli has forbidden Ostling to give anyone outside the cabal a copy of the memo. The dark side has its secrets.

Once again, we have dealt with men and women whose word is perfidious and whose signature is worthless.

            So, now what? First off, we met with our attorneys. They are dealing with the double-cross as a breach of contract. From now on, we will deal with this administration “by the book.” There will be no deviation from contractual provisions—no more deals, no more double-crosses. We will organize all employees in the continuing education program. In truth, we should have done that a long time ago. These persons have been exploited long enough. What was needed was a wake-up call, and this administration has called us out with brazen cheek. We will answer the call with equal brass. They have gotten away with paying these folks poverty wages while they bloat this administration with patronage jobs that pay exorbitant salaries with exorbitant fringe benefits. Well, all that will be exposed and opposed.

The campaign to organize this group of employees must be joined by the entire AFA membership. Many adjuncts teach in this program. Petitions will soon be circulating. As we gather signatures, we must speak of the web of exploitation that uses these folks to feed a bloated administration. Tell them to expect missives and to come to meetings as they are scheduled. They will already know that in unity there is strength.

And so, for a brief moment, the trustees were players and not rubber-stamps. But, Fanelli was not about to tolerate that, so he got them to sell their good names simply by convincing them that deceit trumps honor.