City College of Chicago adjunct faculty plan to pack the board of trustees meeting to demand to bargain

CHICAGO - City Colleges of Chicago adjunct faculty plan to pack the City Colleges of Chicago Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting Thursday afternoon to call for a fair contract.
City Colleges of Chicago Labor Organizing Committee (CCCLOC) represents a bargaining unit of more than 700 adjunct professors, part-time librarians and vocational lecturers at City Colleges of Chicago who teach the majority of classes.. CCCLOC has been bargaining a new contract with the BOT since February 2024. The union's current contract expired on June 30, 2024.

"Our contract expired June 30, 2024, and CCCLOC has been bargaining in good faith for over two years. City Colleges has continuously responded to our proposals with excuses and empty promises, which quickly resulted in an agreed upon mediated negotiation. Our union understands the past delays that were the result of government shut-downs, but now City Colleges is refusing to go back to the bargaining table until the specific mediator comes back to work. That is bad faith bargaining and our union is in negotiation limbo because City Colleges claims that it will take too long to bring a new mediator up to speed. This mediator has been out of the office for months and CCCLOC has confirmed there is no ETA for this mediator to come back to work. CCCLOC is ready to bring in a new mediator immediately and get back to the negotiating table.  Our members deserve a fair and equitable contract and CCCLOC demands that City Colleges stop the delays and get back to the bargaining table!," said CCCLOC President Tony Pro.

At issue are:

• Wages: A strong majority of our membership survive primarily on adjunct salary for their income. Currently, they are earning poverty wages that simply aren't sustainable.
• Course overload: City Colleges is requesting to overload adjuncts at unprecedented rates. Meaning, part-time faculty are being assigned course loads in excess of full-time loads without full-time salaries and benefits.
• Minimal benefits: At least 85% of CCCLOC members need assistance to pay for healthcare. It's unbelievable in a world class city like Chicago, City Colleges forces a quarter of its own employees to rely on public assistance to survive.

CCCLOC represents more than 700 part-time faculty, librarians and vocational lecturers. CCCLOC works with students at all seven City Colleges campuses and four satellite campuses across Chicago.

CCCLOC members are planning to pack the BOT meeting and will be carrying signs that say, "Contract Now" and "Back to the Bargaining Table." The meeting begins Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. at Harold Washington College.

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.