NEWS & EVENTS (BenOrtiz.com)
Monday, October 25, 2004
HEADLINES:
Bargaining goes to the dogs -- no negotiations till Wednesday
Students start talking tuition refund
Board responds to student: "Thank you for your uninformed concern"
I can only say that every teacher I’ve talked to wants this finished, and so a sense of disappointment was palpable today at the picket line over failed negotiations. Of those striking, many wondered if the Board really intended to bargain on Sunday, because Union reps went with suitcases ready for an all-nighter. But it looks like Wednesday will have to do, even though progressively frustrated students are starting to talk about a tuition refund.
Many of those students joined the picket today, and there was a gathering organized by reps from various Truman student groups to “express a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the Board of Trustees for its failure to manage the situation in the students’ interest” (flyer). The student rally went on to threaten a tuition refund:
“If there is not an immediate resolution to this matter, the students, as customers, will demand a per diem refund of tuition paid as compensation for the hardship this has and will continue to cause” (flyer).
Most of the students dropping by today joined in picketing, surprised that the strike continues without any foreseeable end. I understand the uncertainty can be unnerving, just as surely as I know my own rent and bills will start to pile up fast if this doesn’t end soon.
The student-rally flyer suggests that both Union and Board counted on student suffering to help in the battle of interests. From my own first-hand participation in the Union, I must contend that this is simply not true. I feel nothing but regret that this must impact negatively on student learning and life. But such was never the point or intent.
At the end of this note, I’ve copied a letter from Dr. Michael Swisher in humanities to his philosophy students. I think it’s exemplary of how I’ve seen my colleagues talk about the strike to students. I myself did not take class time to drill the Union position, and I even sent an e-mail that urged students to take apart the situation as they would any critical assignment.
Compare this to how one Board member, Rev. Albert D. Tyson III, responded to an e-mail from first-year Truman student Russel Forster. In his e-mail, Forster was adamant but sincere:
“Students like me are looking to you for reasoned and respectful leadership from the Administration right now. If we don't see that leadership, and see more of the stonewalling and finger-pointing that has been the Administration's approach so far, we will have to turn our disgust into action ... I hope the next round of negotiations brings out the best and fairest qualities in the Administration rather than the unpleasant, unprofessional, bullying qualities we've seen so far.”
Here’s what a Truman student received in response from CCC Board member Rev. Tyson: “Thank you for your uninformed concern.”
As a Truman teacher, I’ve argued for respecting students by challenging them with reasoned discourse and the highest expectations. That’s why I found Rev. Tyson’s note so typically patronizing a response from those who think students should be treated like customers. At least, consider the following letter from Truman Professor Swisher to his philosophy students:
October 22, 2004
Dear Philosophy Students:
I am sure that many of you are confused, a little frightened, or even angry about the ongoing strike. I know that you have heard conflicting reports about why we are striking and what may or may not happen to students when it is all over. I write you this letter in the hope that in the few weeks that you have now known me in class, I have made an impression of honesty and forth-rightness. I also hope that you have noticed that I keep coming back to the ideals of Socrates for not only intellectual but also personal reasons. I want you to remember that I could have used class time to drum into you our side of the issues and to demonize the administration as they are doing to me (and I do take their slanderous attacks on the faculty personally). I did speak about the possible strike in general terms of what may or may not happen, but I never used my control over a captive audience to try to persuade you.
Unfortunately, the administration is not so principled and they are winning the battle in the media. This should be of no surprise to anyone. There is an army of administrators, lawyers, and public relations professionals at the beck and call of the chancellor. They will be fired if they do not carry out his wishes. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers’ fees ($250 an hour), postage, printing costs and many other things to get their distorted and disingenuous message out. Your tuition is being used to help pay these costs. Our union has only a very small number of paid professionals at its disposal. All of these costs are borne entirely by the union members, mainly through union dues, but also by personal outlays, which we gladly make to help our cause.
As to the issues, there has been such wild misinformation disseminated that I can only call them lies due to the fact that they are grossly exaggerated half-truths which imply something very false. Let me make one thing very clear to you: We are not striking so that a small group of senior professors can keep their comfortable jobs. We are not striking so that we won’t have to work more. ... If this were the only issue, we would have settled a long time ago. The chancellor has been very successful in drumming this falsehood into the heads of the media. It is easier to report simple mantras than to go out and do real investigative reporting.
Another gross misrepresentation is class size. Do not believe the numbers put out by the administration. They claim that the average class size is 21.4. I ask you, how many students are in the classes you take? I have never had a class smaller than 35 students in my 11 years at Truman College. My evening classes have 39 students. I am sure you would love to sign up for such small classes just as I would love to teach them. The truth is, you will not find them. Another big issue concerns the nursing faculty. Truman College has one of the best nursing programs in the state of Illinois. Clinical assignments are crucial to the training of nurses. Our nursing instructors receive one hour of credit for every two hours they work in the hospitals and clinics. And believe me, they put in a lot of time. This means they get paid for only half of their work. We want to rectify this.
Hourly workers such as tutors and mentors receive the same kind of pay you would expect to find at Walmart, often as low as $7 an hour. They get no benefits. Security personnel (yes, they are in our union but are forbidden to strike by state law) receive on average about $5 per hour less than their counterparts at other city and county facilities. I could go on about other serious issues that the administration does not want you to know about but I hope you are getting the idea.
Believe me, no one wants this over quickly more than I and my colleagues do. Being on strike is tiring and humiliating. I love to teach and I love Truman College. It is my college and it is your college.
Finally, let me say thank you to those of you who have been out on the picket line with us. It really does help our morale, and more importantly it makes an impression on the administration.
Sincerely,
Michael Swisher, PhD