By Lauren Blanchard.
The following statement was approved by the Public Employee Relations Board mediator:
“MPCTA and the Monterey Peninsula Community College District (District) met for 10 and a half hours of mediation today, February 6, 2018. A variety of issues were discussed. However, mediation concluded at 7pm when the District indicated they were unable to commit to an agreement due to concerns about the proposed state community college funding formula. MPCTA is frustrated with the lack of progress after 4 years without a current contract for MPC’s faculty. The District asked that mediation continue only after more is known about the May Revised Budget. MPCTA hopes that further mediation may yield and agreement.”
So….
This is not the outcome we’d hoped for and it means that MPC faculty need to continue to organize for a contract that serves the interests of full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and our students. I want to applaud the large numbers of you that wore MPCTA shirts and pins today. You were a visible reminder that a school cannot put students first when they put teachers last. This type of visible action on campus will need to become a regular part of our campaign for a fair contract. The executive board will meet this week to discuss further actions and a membership meeting will be announced as soon as we’ve set a date, time, and location. If you have questions or comments, please let me know.
