A Message from Nevada Faculty Alliance President Jim Strange
October 3, 2016
I hope everyone’s Fall semester is off to a good start and proceeding smoothly. I wish to tell you about some of the good things the Nevada Faculty Alliance has going on across the state.
Collective Bargaining
Faculty at CSN voted to certify collective bargaining in April. This successful campaign was a team effort between NFA members and other faculty at CSN, state NFA led by Executive Director David Steel, and the AAUP. Currently CSN-NFA is assembling its bargaining team and has formally requested to bargain with the CSN administration. Join me in wishing them the best in their effort “at the table.”
WNC is preparing to enter negotiations for the renewal of their Collective Bargaining Agreement. The overall relationship with the WNC administration is good, and all are hopeful for constructive negotiations.
Collective bargaining training was held Sep 9th and 10th at CSN. Mike Mauer from the AAUP led the training. David Steel is planning to give negotiation training to chapters in the north based on these training sessions.
Preparation for the 2017 Legislative Session
The NFA currently has a promising lead on a lobbyist for the 2017 legislative session. Top priorities are faculty compensation and benefits and the NSHE Funding Formula. The NFA will be watching for any initiatives put forward by Governor Sandoval or the legislature which could potentially impact working conditions at the universities and colleges.
Political Action Committees: Preparing for the November Elections
The NFA Political Action Committees north and south have given a series of endorsements for both NSHE regent and state legislative races. The northern endorsements are complete, the southern vetting process is ongoing.
PAC members have questioned candidates on issues relating to higher education, from funding, including faculty pay, to the potential restructuring of NSHE. So far, SPAC endorsed candidates, all of whom have spoken face-to-face with PAC members, are:
Senate:
District 3: Tick Segerblom
District 5: Joyce Woodhouse
District 6: Nicole Cannizzaro
District 11: Aaron Ford
District 18: Alexander Marks
Assembly:
District 3: Nelson Araujo
District 4: John Piro
District 6: William McCurdy II
District 8: Jason Frierson
District 9: Steve Yeager
District 10: Chris Brooks
District 15: Elliot Anderson
District 17: Tyrone Thompson
District 20: Ellen Spiegel
District 21: Ozzie Fumo
District 29: Lesley Cohen
District 34: Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod
The NFA northern PAC has also been active. Endorsees:
Assembly:
District 24: Amber Joiner
District 25: Jill Tolles
District 27: Teresa Benitez Thompson
District 30: Mike Sprinkle
District 31: Skip Daly
Senate:
District 13: Julia Ratti
District 15: No endorsement was made in this race. Both candidates have very good, but different, credentials to serve in the Nevada Senate.
Regents endorsements:
District 6: Michael Wixom
District 7: Mark Doubrava
District 8: Cathy McAdoo
District 9: Sara LaFrance
District 11: Jason Geddes
Advocacy/Legal Defense
Chapters and members of the state board have been handling various issues and cases over the last few months. Most of them deal with disputed evaluations, support through grievances, and workload disputes.
NFA Vice President Rob Manis and David Steel conducted a legal defense training at NSC on September 17. This training covers the types of legal support and methods for assisting NFA members and fellow faculty with various labor issues that can arise.
Organizing/Recruitment
Steven Cohen has been hired as an organizer to work UNLV. David Steel has met with him several times, put him through training, and has given him materials. We are still searching for a recruiter for UNR. We gained 21 new members in the month of September. David will be discussing new membership goals at the next meeting of the NFA State Board.
I want to thank you for your continued support of the Nevada Faculty Alliance. Through your support we are able to help improve our professional lives and those of fellow NSHE faculty.
