Columbia Gorge Community College Union seeks clear disciplinary codes

Pulling language from other community college contracts, they’ve written articles for “better defining what a discipline notice is, how it’s delivered, what the content of a discipline notice is” and the steps that follow, said union Vice President tina ontiveros — as well as noting employees’ legal right to union representation.

Kisa Clark, who is field representative for AFT-OR, the affiliate union, said the union’s goal is to have set steps for the disciplinary process (written warnings, disciplinary probation, suspension and termination), which everyone can access information about and, in the past, has not been fully available in the contract.

Student complaint procedures also got thorough attention, with the union seeking to codify how student complaints are handled. Their proposal would require the formation of a student complaint committee and writing of clear procedures from the student handbook into the contract.

Current procedures are ambiguous. “Right now we have a lot of folks talking, instead of triggering this process,” ontiveros said. Instructors also get confused about what kind of complaints lead to discipline for them.

Other articles

The meeting also covered articles on recall of laid-off employees and dual credit practices.

Right of recall is an employee’s right to be the first person offered the job they were laid-off from if it gets reinstated.

Under the current contract, an employee could be offered a different job. If they refused it, there’s a possibility they’d lose the right of recall for their original job too.

The union wants laid-off employees to be able to refuse a job for which they don’t feel qualified, the bargaining team said. Proposed language would give the rehired person a month to either accept the new job and show they can achieve it, or return to the recall list.

The union opened these articles first, and is now countering the college’s response.

“We are making gains in both contracts related to workload and labor equity. We are making gains related to transparency and admin responsibilities. We are making gains related to employee rights and clarity of roles and expectations,” the union noted in an email to members a few hours before the meeting.

Vice-president Jarett Gilbert said CGCC’s bargaining team will counter the union’s last financial offer on May 22.