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Denee Pescarmona, vice president of College of the Canyons Faculty Association, raises a question at the CCA Board meeting on March 8. |
With 25 chapter presidents from around the state attending the March 8, 2008 meeting of the CCA board, President Ron Norton Reel unveiled a proposal calling for CCA to explore merger discussions with the Community College Council, (CCC), the state’s other major community college union.
CCA is an affiliate of the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association, while CCC is affiliated with the California Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers. Both faculty unions combined would result in a joint membership of 14,059 full-time faculty and 33,073 part-time faculty, for a total of 47,132 members statewide, according to 2006 figures from the Chancellor’s Office.
Observing that no one organization currently represents a majority of community college faculty in the state, Reel explained, “Some of us began to think: Would we have more power if we had a unified organization?”
Goal is to strengthen faculty
The goal of such a merger would be to take the strengths of both groups and merge them into a larger union, Reel explained. The proposal, he stressed, is still very much in its infant stages of development. CTA has given CCA the go-ahead to begin talks, and guidelines are expected to be developed with CCC/CFT in the next month or so as to how those talks will take place. CTA’s board of directors will ultimately have to approve the merger.
The proposal to begin exploratory talks had received the support of the CCA board the evening before, but Reel wanted to make sure the presidents were among the first to hear the news. The board invited the presidents to the meeting in an effort to increase communication between the board and local chapters.
The idea was well-received by the presidents, although several local leaders raised questions, including how staffing would be affected and what the model for the merger would look like. Much still remains to be discussed, Reel noted, including whether a merger would benefit members.
“We have to ask, would we be stronger collectively than if we stay apart? That’s what we’re going to look into,” Reel said.
Other programs
Chapter leaders also heard about ways they can strengthen their local associations by accessing CCA/CTA programs. For example, several chapters have already received special grants from the National Education Association that are aimed at building a stronger local.