CCRI Faculty picket to bring state to the table for meaningful talks

"We've been negotiating for a year & a half... We are trying to draw attention to the fact that the administration has ceased to be meaningfully involved in the negotiation process since the summer."

In freezing temperatures hours before the sun rose, members of the CCRI Faculty Association (CCRIFA) were holding an informational picket across all four campuses on Monday morning to urge community college administrators to get back to the table and bargain a fair contract.

CCRIFA has been working without a new contract since June 2022. Labor and management are currently engaged in mediation, but management has not responded to the Union’s latest proposal or brought any proposals of their own to resolve the dispute, and no negotiating dates are currently scheduled.

During that time, CCRIFA members have served their students, the college, and their community. CCRIFA maintains that shared governance, fair wages, and a respectful work environment have a positive impact on the educational outcomes of students.

I spoke to Daniel O'Neill outside the Knight Campus in Warwick, who has taught in the Community College of Rhode Island’s Arts and Design program for seven years and serves as Secretary of the CCRIFA Faculty Association.

Daniel O'Neill: We're here as a union to communicate a positive message about what faculty contribute to the state of Rhode Island by teaching our students here at CCRI. We are trying to draw attention to the fact that the administration has ceased to be meaningfully involved in the negotiation process since the summer. We've been negotiating for a year and a half. We went into mediation in the summer and [the administration hasn't] responded to our mediation proposal... Through two mediation meetings [the administration] came but did not react [and presented] no counter proposal to what we had.

Steve Ahlquist: So they're sitting on their additional offer, whatever that offer was?

Daniel O'Neill: I don't know what the strategy is, but that's the action that I witnessed. We started by being present at the Council on Post-Secondary Education meetings because that's the group that is in charge of the negotiation from that side. And then as [negotiations] continued and there was no counter-proposal, we decided that we wanted to communicate to the whole state that we're here, we're teaching, and we love it - and we need the stability of a contract so that we can continue.

Steve Ahlquist: So you've been working without a contract since the summer?

Daniel O'Neill: I dunno if it's completely accurate to say [we are working] without a contract. [We have been working] under the old contract since 2022.

Steve Ahlquist: What are you looking for in a contract that's so onerous?

Daniel O'Neill: There are changes related to the working conditions and a very reasonable raise that just barely keeps us well below inflation and barely keeps us going along with what everyone else in the state has gotten. Also, the process by which governance is shared - by legislation we were given the right to share governance in how classes are taught - is not supported by the administration.

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A local union affiliated with the National Education Association Rhode Island, CCRIFA represents about 300 full-time faculty that teach students everything from English as a second language to job skills in renewable energy, dental hygiene, and nursing. The community college environment is unique, with smaller class sizes and an emphasis on services and supports to assist students in need.