In a union meeting Monday, the Rock Valley College Faculty Association voted overwhelmingly to allow its bargaining team to call for a work stoppage in the case of an impasse in negotiations with the Board of Trustees. This vote does not immediately call for a strike, but will allow faculty members who have been in negotiations with the Board's negotiating team since January to call for a strike if talks break down.
"We were hoping to begin the school year with a contract -- but much like negotiations in 2011 -- our Board of Trustees through its representative have allowed talks to draw out," said Michael Youngblood, economics instructor and president of the faculty union. We have two more meetings scheduled with the Board's representative and the federal mediator and we plan on continuing to bargain in good faith for a contract that is fair to our students, the faculty, and the taxpayers. We hope to avert a strike.
"There are a lot of new developments on campus like the recent agreement with Northern Illinois University and the upcoming the 50th anniversary celebration that we are excited to move forward. Our nursing and aviation programs have expanded. Bottom line is, we want to be in our classrooms continuing to provide our students with a world class education available in their community.
The last contract was not settled until 8 months after the previous one terminated and faculty hope to have this contract settled in a more timely manner.
