At the April 17th NCC Board of Trustees’ meeting, nine speakers, backed by a full room, asked the trustees to rescind the full-time faculty pay deduction, based on contract clause 36-5, that administration imposed on faculty this spring during our contract negotiations. Below are excerpts from the powerful testimonies:
- Thomas O’Beirne said that 36-5 is “decimating” faculty salaries, requiring many faculty to take on side work. He noted that the failure to hire new faculty is leading to overworked faculty in Admissions. He described the administration as not running but dismantling the college.
- Allison Bressmer quoted Dr. Conzatti’s words at a recent Strategic Planning meeting that the president is the leader who “steers the ship.” Bressmer argued that a good leader should be responsive, not dismissive, of the concerns of those she is leading, a good leader should respect those she leads, but, “our leaders,” Bresmer said, “do not see us as people.” She reproached Trustee John Durso for not defending the faculty as a fellow union worker.
- NCCFT Secretary Suzanne Kaebnick contrasted the beginning salary at a private high school, $90,000 with benefits including dental and health insurance, with the beginning salary of NCC faculty, which is less than $60,000. She reminded Trustee Gardyn that faculty have education loans which do not qualify for bankruptcy. She asked Trustee Wanda Jackson, who has served with the Urban League, to fight economic injustice at NCC as well; she asked that the 36-5 pay deduction be rescinded.
- Mary Lannon described the “above and beyond” dedication of faculty to students: noting faculty creation of the independent (501c3) food pantry, The NEST, on campus after seeing student hunger; faculty fund-raising for the campus childcare center, The Greenhouse; and faculty efforts at the Academic Advisement to serve each student’s needs.
- NCCFT President Faren Siminoff observed that it takes our faculty 3 years to meet M.I.T.’s Living Wage of $96,000 for our area and argued that “we are not supposed to be negotiating with a gun to our head.” She asked Trustee John Durso, why, as Long Island Federation of Labor president, he doesn’t speak out against the 36-5 pay deduction.
- Student Ariel Lann (Silberman) protested that faculty had been working a year without a contract when “we all rely on the professors to keep this college going.” She reproached Dr. Conzatti for turning down additional County funding at the Nassau Legislature last summer if money is an issue.
- NCCFT Vice President of Classroom Faculty David Stern provided Trustees with the draft of a resolution to rescind the 36-5 pay deduction and asked them all, but particularly, Trustee John Durso, as Long Island Federation of Labor president, to introduce the resolution to the Board of Trustees. Stern noted that some faculty are having to resort to the NEST, the food pantry located on campus, and that both the college and union have agreed to mediation. John Durso did not introduce the resolution.
- Tracy Ann Ayala noted that some junior faculty are already paying a substantial percentage of their health insurance premiums and the 36-5 deduction is a further burden on them. She also deplored that faculty promotions and tenure were not on the meeting’s agenda and asked that they be on the May agenda.
- Virginia Sanchioli, the last speaker, noted that morale is at an all-time low and reminded trustees that faculty are the heart of the institution.
The Trustees concluded the meeting without response. Here is a video of the speakers’ testimonies.