'Rowing in the same direction'

First contracts give college faculty members a voice

Two of MEA-MFT's newest local unions recently finished bargaining their first contracts. Faculty at Miles Community College in Miles City and at Montana Tech in Butte now have the protection of a master agreement for the first time.

Congratulations to our members at these two institutions! MEA-MFT looks forward to all the successes the future will bring.

Miles Community College: After 20 long months of negotiations, MEA-MFT members in the Miles Community College Faculty Association in Miles City finished bargaining their first contract this February.

It's a major achievement for the 13-member local union, formed in 2005. The union started bargaining with the college board of directors back in May 2005. "The former president of the college and a few trustees thought they could string this out and the union would go away," said MEA-MFT Field Consultant Scott McCulloch, who helped with negotiations.

"Well, the union didn't go away. They hung in there." McCulloch gave high praise to local President George Dickie and member Nancy Swope for staying with the negotiations process for the entire 18 months.

"They were great," he said. "I can't say enough about George and Nancy and how they hung in there and maintained their sense of humor."

"We're the last of Montana's community colleges to have a contract, and one of the last in the whole university system," said Dickie, an English professor at Miles. "It was time to come into the 20th Century, let alone the 21st."

The contract provides salary increases and other financial gains, but even more important, according to Dickie, is the contract's "just cause" language that protects members from arbitrary dismissal.

"If community college employees don't have that bargained, they have no protection," he said.

Faculty are employed on a year-to-year contract, "so previously, we could be released, terminated, or dismissed for no reason-no cause."

Equally important, the contract gives faculty a voice in faculty evaluations. "We had absolutely no say as to evaluation procedures before," said Dickie. "Everything was in board policy, which could be changed at the board's will. Now we have an article in the contract saying we'll work out a procedure jointly with the board."

Having a voice in college policy was the main reason Miles City faculty formed a union in the first place, according to Dickie.

"Before the master agreement, there was no venue for listening to faculty concerns," he said. "It was all dependent on college leadership. If they wanted to work with us, great. If not, we were dead in the water."

Now, he said, "we have a way to make our concerns known. Faculty can work with the college to address issues before they become contentious."

With a master agreement, new leadership on the college board, and a new president who is deeply committed to empowering all employees to make the college the best it can be, Dickie sees good things ahead for this 68-year-old institution, an important hub of the Miles City community.

"We have a document that we've mutually agreed on as a roadmap," he said. "Once again, we're all rowing in the same direction."

Montana Tech: The Montana Tech Faculty Association is celebrating "the best first contract in the history of the university system," according to MEA-MFT Field Consultant J.C. Weingartner.

After several months at the bargaining table, MTFA members and the Board of Regents recently approved the contract.

"We finally got an agreement!" exclaimed Dr. John Brower, who led the negotiation team. Brower attributed success to the efforts and dedication of many faculty members who spent years organizing the unit, preparing contract proposals, and finally negotiating a contract. "It was a collective effort," said Brower, "and isn't that what a labor union is all about?"

Brower was joined at the bargaining table by Dr. Dave Carter, Jim Handley, and MEA-MFT staff members Melissa Case and J.C. Weingartner. The team acknowledged that negotiating the first contract is always the toughest, but it represents a cornerstone for future contracts.

Handley noted that while the MTFA did not get everything it wanted, the faculty has a great contract and is proud of the work done by the bargaining team

Carter credited MEA-MFT member Dr. Mike Kupilik, president of the University Faculty Association at the University of Montana, for his help. "Mike has nearly 20 years of experience in bargaining with the commissioner's office and 'stood at the ready' to assist us in every way," Carter said. "We relied upon his counsel and advice. It made our bargaining team's task so much easier." MEA-MFT now represents faculty at all of the state's higher education institutions except Montana State University, and we are working to bring them into the fold.