Dear fellow Classified Colleagues,
Happy Monday everybody, my name is Kenny Ascheri and I am your Vice President of LCCEF. I have held this position since last November and have attended and spoke at most board meetings since then to make sure my voice is heard by the people making the large impact decisions of our college. I am actively engaged in consistent advocacy for all classified staff to have healthier working environments and gaining access to more professional development and skill building. I feel like these topics have a wide breadth and I believe in holding LCC administration to the highest standard for showing their classified staff that they truly care about us!
At first when I took this position I was anxious that I didn’t know enough about the workings of the classified unit and that I wouldn’t do well because of lack of experience with representing others. After months of treading water in the deep end, I will report that I feel quite comfortable in this new role. Don’t misunderstand my comfort in the new role with the tasks to be performed – the work is often voluntary, rigorous, and bleak – especially this time of year.
I wanted to reach out to everybody to be open and transparent that I have submitted a formal complaint against another Classified employee, on the grounds of repeated discourteous and disrespectful behavior towards other Classified employees. This behavior is in violation of our LCCEF contract 12.7.2, “The Union and the College agree that the maintenance of a safe and healthy work environment includes the expectation that all interactions among employees, and employees and managers, will be conducted with respect and courtesy.”
I feel that this employee has crossed the boundary repeatedly with disrespectful language commonly pointed at LCCEF EC and President Robin Geyer and I have finally found the appropriate administrative avenue to pursue in order to make a difference. That’s what I am going to do.
To be completely clear, I am not advocating for this employee to be removed from their platform – I am headstrong in pursuing the support from EVERYBODY for a respectful and courteous working environment. Remember, this isn’t like mainstream politics – LCCEF is not a two party system where we tear apart the other party. We are one single community of working people doing our best to pull together and stand in solidarity for healthier working conditions and adequate compensation!