Higher Ed & General Gov Contracts
 As you know, the Governor recently announced that he was rescinding Directive 22-13.1, the requirement to be vaccinated for Covid-19 as a condition of employment, effective May 11, 2023.
 
This post is intended to explain what we know about this change and how it will impact our members and the collective bargaining agreement that is set to go into effect on July 1, 2023. 
 
Consequence of Rescission:
The impact of the Governor’s announcement is there is no longer a condition of employment to be vaccinated for Covid-19.  If you were already vaccinated, there should be no change in your working conditions.  If you are exempt from this requirement and currently being accommodated, your Employer will be contacting you to discuss withdrawing the accommodations.  
 
Any changes to your working conditions are a mandatory subject of bargaining and you are entitled to representation.  If you wish to have a WPEA representative in any meetings related to this discussion, please contact your local shop steward and or Staff Representative promptly. 
 
WPEA Contracts:
WPEA’s General Government and Higher Education contracts included a Tentative Agreement (TA) that outlined the condition of employment covered in Directive 22-13.1, this TA will need to be renegotiated to remove that specific language, together with the condition of employment mandate.
 
The TA WPEA negotiated included the $1,000.00 lump sum compensation as a voluntary booster incentive; that incentive will still go into effect on July 1, 2023.
 
The changes related to the condition of employment will not impact your compensation negotiated to take effect on July 1 of this year. 
 
WPEA’s bargaining teams will be meeting with the Office of Financial Management to make these changes to our TA.  As soon as we have an agreement, we will provide you with a copy of that TA so you can review the changes. 
 
Booster:
However, based on current CDC recommendations, we will need to modify the language in the TA to clarify that, from May 11, 2023 forward, the definition of being “up-to-date” under CDC will include the bivalent booster. 
 
If you received the “Booster” and provided necessary proof to your employer, you should be eligible to collect your lump sum on your July 25 paycheck. 
 
If the $1,000 lump sum was not posted on your July 25 paycheck or, if you made an attempt to provide proof of compliance and the Employer did not acknowledge your efforts, please contact us immediately to sort out the issue. 
 
Who to Contact:
If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please reach out to our Contract Administration Director, Amanda Hacker, at [email protected] or (360) 489-2315

Yakima & Highline Contracts
WPEA Members:
 
As you know, the Governor recently announced that he was rescinding Directive 22-13.1, the requirement to be vaccinated for Covid-19 as a condition of employment, effective May 11, 2023.
 
This email is intended to explain what we know about this change and how it will impact our members and the collective bargaining agreement that is set to go into effect on July 1, 2023. 
 
Consequence of Rescission:
The impact of the Governor’s announcement is there is no longer a condition of employment to be vaccinated for Covid-19. 
 
WPEA Contracts:
WPEA’s Highline and Yakima contracts included a Tentative Agreement (TA) that outlined an incentive for receiving a booster (as define by the CDC and what they consider “up-to-date”).  The $1,000.00 lump sum compensation as a voluntary booster incentive; that incentive will still go into effect on July 1, 2023.
 
The changes related to the condition of employment will not impact your compensation negotiated to take effect on July 1 of this year. 
 
WPEA’s bargaining teams will be meeting with your Employer’s to make sure that our TA aligns with recent changes to the definition of “up-to-date”.  As soon as we have an agreement, we will provide you with a copy of that TA so you can review any changes. 
 
Booster:
If you have already received the “Booster” and provided necessary proof to your Employer, you should be eligible to collect your lump sum on your July 25 paycheck. 
 
If the $1,000 lump sum was not posted on your July 25 paycheck or if you made an attempt to provide proof of compliance and the Employer did not acknowledge your efforts, please contact us immediately to sort out the issue. 
 
Who to Contact:
If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please reach out to our Contract Administration Director, Amanda Hacker, at [email protected] or (360) 489-2315.  
​

Short URL: https://www.thestand.org/?p=116931
The following is from AFT Yakima Faculty, Local 1485:
YAKIMA (May 10, 2023) — Fed up with the actions of an increasingly unaccountable administration, AFT Yakima Faculty, Local 1485, held a vote of confidence in the college’s president, Dr. Linda Kaminski. The vote follows several years of the administration’s anti-transparent actions, including lack of transparency in policies regarding faculty hiring and tenure, concerns from faculty and staff who were unable to have their harassment claims investigated or tracked, closure of essential programs, and a general lack of communication and transparency between Yakima Valley College’s administration and the college community of students, staff, and faculty.
The American Federation of Teachers faculty union, which represents roughly 300 full- and part-time faculty at Yakima Valley College, is holding a press conference Thursday, May 11 at 12:30 p.m. to announce the results of the vote and speak about the issues which led to it being held.

TAKE A STAND — AFT Yakima Faculty is asking students, union members and community supporters to come to the press conference on the northeast corner of 16th Ave and Nob Hill at 12:30 PM on Thursday, May 11. The union is also asking those interested to attend the Board of Trustees meeting later Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Room 122 of the West Campus Conference Center (building 38) on the Yakima Valley College campus.
At a meeting of the union membership, on April 12, a vote of confidence was held on Dr. Kaminski’s leadership. After the final tally, 88% of the membership in attendance voted that they had “no confidence” in Dr. Kaminski’s leadership of the college. No members voted “confidence” in Dr. Kaminski’s leadership, and 12% abstained from voting.
“We didn’t want to do this, but all of our other efforts have failed,” said Rachel Dorn, AFT-Yakima Faculty president, “We have been trying to reach out to the school leadership and the Board of Trustees about our concerns for over a year, but there has been very little dialogue and we get the impression that leadership is not taking these concerns seriously.”
AFT Yakima Faculty President Rachel Dorn speaks to reporters.
Throughout the year, AFT-Y has been bringing attention to issues ranging from a lack of policies around promotion and hiring, to concerns over the college’s failure to follow policies related to reporting and investigation of harassment and retaliation.
“We’ve lost valuable members of our YVC community due to the college administration’s inability to follow or enforce these basic policies,” said Steve Rodrigue, Physics and Engineering Instructor at YVC.
Most recently, the YVC community has been upset by the sudden closure of the Bachelors of Applied Science in Teacher Education (BAS-TE) program, whose graduates are helping to fill in the shortage of K-12 teachers in the region. After finding out about the proposed closure and the layoff of a beloved faculty member, students, faculty, and community members attended the March Board meeting in an attempt to prevent the Trustees from voting for the closure, which faculty say was unwarranted and contrary to the needs of the program and its students. The Trustees approved of the closure and layoffs before hearing from students and supporters.
“The Yakima Valley needs this program and it needs quality instructors.” said Julie Schillreff, Education Instructor at YVC.
At the May 11 Board of Trustees meeting, the faculty union is asking the public to come and support the seven full-time instructors whose contracts were non-renewed at the board meeting in March. The college did not follow the contractual process for non-renewal of Special Faculty faculty, claiming, instead, that the faculty who were non-renewed were designated as “temporary,” a category of faculty that is not defined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

AFT-Y has filed grievances protesting the closure of the BAS-TE program and the non-renewal process for the impacted faculty.
“Through anti-transparent hiring processes and her [Dr. Kaminski’s] influence on the makeup of the Board of Trustees, she has created a college structure and culture that does not allow for shared governance,” said Vicente Lopez, faculty counselor at YVC.
Liz DeVilleneuve, another faculty counselor, said, “The college speaks about diversity, equity and inclusion but doesn’t follow through in its actions. Harassment and retaliation are not seriously addressed, and the Board does not hold the president accountable.”
In the wake of accusations of retaliation from staff and administrators, YVC employees at all levels feel that speaking out puts their jobs at risk.
“It’s the culture of intimidation and fear, the perception that if you speak out you risk being retaliated against and possibly losing your job,” said Shannon Hopkins, English Instructor at YVC.
“Faculty, via tenure and via their union, are the YVC employees best positioned to bring these concerns to light, because it is harder to retaliate against us for speaking up for the good of our students and the college,” said Tim Jeske, Political Science Instructor at YVC.

By COURTNEY BRADDOCK 
Short URL: https://www.thestand.org/?p=116631

VANCOUVER, Wash. (May 3, 2023) — With rising gun violence, extreme climate conditions and an increase in accessibility challenges, employees who can lead and assist in these areas are more important than ever in education institutions such as Clark College.
In addition to a recent proposal to cut a mental health counselor, Clark officials are seriously considering proposals to:
●  Cut the Emergency Manager whose duties include emergency response planning, coordinating the college’s mass notification system, and conducting routine emergency preparedness drills and
●  Cut the College Architect whose duties include overseeing college construction projects and providing leadership in ADA compliance issues for office layouts, projects, remodels, and the Clark’s Disability Support Services office.
Both are represented by the Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA)/UFCW Local 365.
It’s concerning that the college continues to pile more and more work onto positions that are already stretched thin from prior budget cuts. This is how important work falls through the cracks. I don’t think work like this should be treated as a luxury item.
Both cuts would also involve skimming bargaining unit work either to managers or to agencies outside of the college.


Jeffrey Kaliner has held the Emergency Manager position since 2018 and led the college’s COVID-19 response. His was the only personnel cut proposed by the college’s Security & Safety Department.
Ironically, Kaliner was awarded the Exceptional Classified Staff Award in 2021. As quoted in the 2021 Clark College Commencement program, “Jeff performed exemplary in managing several crises confronting the college last year… All of his experience and skills were an asset in managing the college community safely through the crisis and onto recovery.”
But things took a turn for Kaliner in the fall of 2021.
“I was basically harassed and sidelined from my position soon after I expressed my concerns that the college administration was not being honest with the community about how we were responding to the event,” Kaliner said recently about the college’s response to COVID-19.
Richard Nevis has held the College Architect position since 2008 and has completed most of the college’s office and classroom layout and reconfigurations to align with fire codes and ADA accommodations and was the only filled position proposed to be cut in the Facilities Department.
If Nevis is cut, the department staff could see an increase in their workload, and the college may move some of this work to an “on-call” architecture firm outside of the college.
When asked if eliminating this position would put the college at risk of being out of compliance with federal regulations, college officials responded, “We have an on-call architectural firm that we utilize, and we will continue to use their services. So, they will definitely keep us within the law.”
The college recently reached a resolution agreement to resolve alleged complaints filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Among other things, the complaint alleges several accessibility issues on the physical grounds of the campus.
Cutting the architect position is a paradoxical move – it would eliminate the person who would focus specifically on resolving Clark’s agreement with the Department of Education.
College officials stated during the budget forums that the priority for the Operations Department is “ensuring we are still able to keep the campus as safe and secure as possible within our limited resources.”
So why are these positions that are critical to ensuring that the college fulfills this priority proposed to be cut?
TAKE A STAND — Please click here to send an email to Clark College leadership at [email protected] letting them know that current and future students, staff, and faculty deserve a campus that is safe and accessible and that the community will not tolerate skimming union work as a budget-saving measure.