CCEU REPORT: Of Unions and Senates

In the 2013 Accreditation Self-Study Executive Summary DRAFT, distributed on at the January 25, 2013, CPC meeting, the following sentence was included:

“The College should explore the feasibility of establishing a Classified Senate in order to provide a platform for classified and confidential staff to participate in shared governance and institutional effectiveness improvement separately from the union role.”

This sentence was later dropped from the document. It was a recommendation that seemed to come out of nowhere, without any supporting idea development; so it was an easy drop. So where did it come from? Is there a problem? Does the idea have merit? What about the statewide Classified Senate?

On the faculty side of the house, the roles and responsibilities are nicely split. Bargaining unit. Governance. By statute, faculty have certain say in academic and professional matters. Though the law is less explicit about the classified employee’s role, participation in college governance by all employee groups (and students, too) is supported by statute.

CCEU is a union. And it represents the classified employees in shared governance matters - one body representing employees in both shared governance and contract negotiations. It’s the Cabrillo Way.

by Rick Fillman

For classified employees, is this melded model somehow a problem? Are there inherent conflicts in working both roles? On the other hand, would classified staff have the stamina to maintain two organizations?

Could something be gained from participation in a state-wide organization of classified senates? Careful examination of the materials posted on the California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS) website makes it clear that they have been involved in a long turf battle over which local campus organization (union or senate) is the legitimate representational body. It seems that the one of the philosophical tenets of the organization is that bargaining units and governance do not mix. This is unfortunate, as it leaves little room for the Cabrillo Way and leaves CCEU with a bit of a dilemma when considering involvement with statewide employee groups.

CCEU is being pulled in a couple different directions for different reasons. In the realm of contract negotiations, some would have our bargaining unit affiliate with, say, AFT. (CCEU examines affiliation on a periodic basis.) Others would have us join up with the Statewide Classified Senate for other reasons. Whichever way this goes, the direction CCEU takes should be decided by the membership of CCEU.