Part-time Staff at Waukesha County Technical School to Decide Fate
Part-time hourly staff at the Waukesha County Technical College will
take a vote in the coming weeks to decide their future.
The Waukesha County Technical Educators Association (WCTEA), which represents
faculty at the college, agreed March 11 that hourly part-time teachers,
who have historically been excluded from the union, should vote on joining
the association.
After several futile months of talks with college administrators, the
WCTEA chose to move forward with a February 25 Wisconsin Employment Relations
Commission (WERC) ruling allowing a vote on unionization.
Approximately 600 part-time faculty are excluded from the teachers’
union because the courses they teach begin after 6 p.m., even though the
classes may be identical to classes taught before 6 p.m.
The WCTEA attempted for a number of years to address the inequity through
negotiations and other discussions. In January of 1998, the union filed
a petition with the WERC requesting an election for the excluded teachers.
Throughout the process, the college attempted to block the part-time faculty
from organizing.
The college’s prolonged footdragging and hiring of a private firm
to block the organizing effort led to a rally last June where part-time
faculty shared their stories and community leaders urged the college to
proceed with an election.
The college chose instead to let the WERC rule on the petitions. The
WERC ruled the first week of March that unrepresented part-time hourly
faculty will vote within 60 days on joining the WCTEA.
“Some faculty considered part time actually teach more hours than
full-time teachers, and they receive no benefits and only about a third
of full-time pay,” said WCTEA President Ellen Mei. “We don’t
think that’s fair or right.”
One part-time teacher said, “I put in six hours preparing for my
three-hour night class, so my pay ends up being about $6.50 per hour.”
WCTEA membership will provide the vehicle for part-time faculty to address
issues they have identified: pay for class preparation, job security,
more access to campus equipment and services, earlier notification of
assignments and schedules, greater opportunities for professional development,
and opportunities to interact with colleagues.
“The WCTEA looks forward to welcoming the part-time faculty as union
colleagues,” Mei said.
Posted March 12, 1999