Press Release: Columbia College faculty refuse to return to unsafe working conditions
September 22, 2020
Columbia College faculty refuse to return
to unsafe working conditions
College won’t bargain critical safety measures
Chicago -- Part-time faculty at Columbia College - Chicago (CCC) are demanding that the college allow its faculty to choose to teach remotely this semester until CCC addresses fundamental COVID-19 safety concerns. The college opened for in-person instruction on Sept. 21 despite not having reached an agreement on safety measures with the faculty union, the Columbia Faculty Association (CFAC, Local 6602).
“Our instructors want nothing more than to be back in-person with students,” said CFAC President Diana Vallera. “But the administration is refusing to thoroughly mitigate the risks of returning to campus. Our union is united in its demand to work remotely until a greater level of safety is achieved.”
The college has not done enough to address safety concerns; under pressure from the union, CCC had some classrooms assessed for air quality, and ultraviolet lights were installed in some HVAC systems to irradiate harmful contaminants. But not all classrooms in which in-person instruction will take place have been assessed and the administration refuses to install portable air purifiers with HEPA filters in rooms that are not affected by ultraviolet treatment. Because the scientific community recognizes that the virus can be transmitted via airborne aerosols, the union is demanding that these basic protections be provided. CCC also has no comprehensive plan for testing of students or faculty.
By resuming in-person instruction, CCC is effectively imposing its health and safety plan on the faculty without first reaching an agreement with the union, an illegal practice under federal labor law. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the college for its bad faith actions.
The administration’s refusal to bargain productively with the faculty members shows how out of touch Columbia is with other Illinois colleges and universities, most of which have successfully negotiated with unions to enact safety plans designed to protect all adults on campus. Among the universities allowing their faculty to choose whether or not to teach remotely are: all University of Illinois campuses, University of Chicago, Chicago State University, Governors State University, and Eastern, Northern, and Western Illinois Universities.
Union and administration representatives have met more than a dozen times, including all day on Sept. 20, but the college has not bargained in good faith. At the same time, the union has made significant compromises throughout negotiations.
The union is particularly concerned about the college’s refusal to implement all possible safety measures because a sizable number of the student population is Black or Brown, the racial groups that have already been hardest hit by COVID-19 in their communities.
“CCC administration must get serious about the safety of students and faculty,” concluded Vallera. “We’ve seen the exploding case numbers in schools across the country that have returned to in-person instruction. Our union doesn’t want students or staff to become the next COVID statistics, so we demand that the administration fulfill its obligation to bargain an agreement on these critical safety issues.”
Columbia Faculty Association (CFAC, Local 6602) represents 600 part-time faculty at Columbia College - Chicago. CFAC is affiliated with the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers and the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers.
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