Table of Contents
Board of Education Meeting, 4.11.19
Titan Store
On April 11, 2019 the Board of Education (BOE) voted for a second time on outsourcing the Titan Bookstore. This time they approved outsourcing with a vote of 5 to 1 (Phil Carrasco resigned and was not present). Lisa Fragala was the only dissenting vote.
Despite having voted at the March 14, 2019 BOE meeting to give the Bookstore one more year to implement a proposal submitted by the Bookstore, giving it a chance of getting the to at least cost neutral, they reversed the prior vote. It appears the college was able to persuade the majority to believe the proposal would not work.
LCCEF, along with Titan Store employees, read statements trying to persuade the Board to stand by their original vote to no avail. (See the LCCEF statement here). LCCEF continues to maintain the college cannot outsource our services if the contractor will succeed only because wages and benefits are less than available to college employees.
Please show kindness and compassion to our Food Service and Titan Bookstore employees as we all work through these changes.
Titan Court
Titan Court student housing is a college service that LCCEF, LCCEA, and ASLCC all believe should be eliminated. In 2017 we began paying principal payments on the loan for the building amounting to nearly $700,000 a year. The college states the facility is 95% full, yet the revenue over expenses has amounted to a net loss (since 2012) of ($2,364,000). Now that we are making sizeable principal payments the overall cost/loss to the college will escalate each year because the business has demonstrated it cannot sustain itself.
Why are we not selling this business? The college states we would likely take a loss if we sold now. We are already taking a loss! Please consider writing to your board members and ask them to approve selling Titan Court. You can find the financial documents on Titan Court in the list of the Budget Development Subcommittee Information Requests on the Budget Office webpages. Note: No Lane employees work at Titan Court because it is managed by an outside firm. The expense to manage it is nearly 1 million annually. Apparently 90,000 is the firm’s fee and the rest is listed as “housing expenditures”, but it is unclear exactly what is contained within nearly 1 million of “housing expenditures”. LCCEF have requested a break out of those “housing expenditures”.
Bargaining – Economic Reopener
Details about bargaining meetings will be posted each Monday and referenced in the weekly communications update (just like this). All posts will be available through the Bargaining Committee page on the website.
Today’s post would have covered the meeting on April 12, 2019 but we did not meet. It was canceled by management because of a lack of quorum. Please send questions, or support, to the bargaining team. You can also use the forums to discuss bargaining, but please remember to keep it professional.
Insurance Committee
Reminder: there is a Joint Insurance Committee composed of 10 classified members and 7 managers.
With the intent of providing information and education, the OEBB subcommittee created a summary (not all inclusive) of our current PacificSource plans in comparison to the 2 most popular current Faculty OEBB plans. (Please note we used the most expensive and least expensive or our current PacificSource plans and did not include the Pacific Source 800 or 1200 deductible Smart Choice plans in this summary.) The summary can be viewed here.
The full PacificSource plan comparisons and rate chart are available on the HR website as well as information on the Faculty plans. Please note these are current rates, not the new rates.
*** Note there is no decision to go to OEBB. The membership will vote on insurance. This summary is for information and education purposes only.
We hope to have other insurance options available sometime in May.
There has been no response from management on the union’s counter proposal (Available on the Bargaining Committee page).
Classified Staff Do Good Things!
“The grounds are looking great after all the storms! We have a fantastic group of classified employees who really care about Lane and keeping the landscaping looking top notch. This is a great source of pride to both staff and students.”
~ Overheard in Center Building
Have a classified staff member you would like to recognize? Send it to communications@lccef.org.
Union Benefits – Discounts on almost everything
AFT has partnered with the Nation’s Leading Long-Term Care Insurance Specialists LTCR. LTCR serves millions of members from over 650 alumni and professional associations.
Learn more or request a quote here: http://educationcenter.ltcr.com/?id=aft
Upcoming and Current Work.
Many hands make light work! We could REALLY use your help! To participate in any of these opportunities, or to find out more, click here.
- Bargaining – Economic Reopener – Currently
- Research into e-Voting for union business
- The Constitution and ByLaws rewrite
- LCCEF Contract Committee (educate members and managers)
- Member Organizer Institute
- Officers in Training
- Worksite Leaders
- Grievance Committee
Our union by the numbers
- Membership: 335 full members (based on LCCEF dues files)
- Officers: 8 officer positions filled / 3 positions vacant (1 COPE Chair, 2 Member at Large)
- Labor Management: 19 active cases including 2 multiple member/group issues, 109 resolved since Jan 1, 2018, helped place 17 members in new positions.
—————
Useful Links