After a lengthy arbitration process concerning Large Group Instruction in the Social Sciences, Arbitrator Fredric R. Dichter issued a largely favorable decision for the PCCFA.

Members of the Social Sciences Division filed grievances in 2013 claiming Article 5, section 5.7.2.1 of the contract was violated when their class sizes were increased. Despite meeting with the administration various times in an effort to resolve the matter–an issue that could have easily been resolved by paying faculty for the additional students–the college would not budge and the FA was left no other option but to arbitrate.

The crux of the arbitrator’s decision is that ‘[t]he District violated the Agreement when it used the 1982 NCN’s in the Spring of 2013. “ Dichter further stated that the “[g]rievants are entitled for LGI pay for all courses where the enrollment exceeded the NCN approved by the C&I on February 23, 2012.”

Due to issues of timely filing of grievances, not all faculty will receive financial compensation. Mr. Dichter has directed the administration and the FA to calculate the amount of money owed to the affected faculty members, and that process has begun.

As usual, there are a couple morals to this story. The first lesson is that the contract is a legal document and both administration and faculty need to follow it. The administration could have avoided the time and expense of this case had they respected our collective bargaining agreement. The second, larger, lesson is that shared governance decisions need to be respected. Hopefully, that is message is being heard loudly and clearly.

– Mary Erin Crook
PCCFA Director