COD to vote on union Aug. 15

A movement is afoot at the College of DuPage that may ratchet up both fiscal and staff tensions even as the school struggles to deal with declining enrollment.

About 700 classified employees at the college will vote Aug. 15 on forming a new union for collective bargaining. Classified staff includes employees such as secretaries, custodians, technicians and advisers like Karen Masterson.

Masterson is a financial aid counselor. She said the loss of a seniority system, cuts to floating holidays and new restrictions on personal development funds are some of the major reasons a union is needed. The college's new budget also calls for slashing 12 classified staff positions.

"They have all that bond money to build buildings, but there is no money for staffing," Masterson said. "Enrollment was significantly down, so they are scrambling and taking money from a significant source, but it's really such a small (savings).

"To eliminate 12 classified staff is nothing compared to eliminating two or three faculty or one administrator," Masterson added. "It's small potatoes. To think that you're going to cut back staff while you're going to build new buildings doesn't quite make sense, does it?"

The college has struggled to recover from spiraling enrollment since it switched from a quarter system to semesters. The last public figures for fall enrollment showed a 15 percent drop.

Classified staff have battled administrators since the end of May about who may participate in the union vote.

Masterson said classified employees who serve in a supervisory role will be excluded. However, Masterson said the hardest part has been getting a full list of classified employees from the college so they can be notified about the looming vote and have their eligibility determined.

"We're in a real frantic mess trying to figure out who's eligible," Masterson said.

The slow information may stem from a less-than-enthusiastic notification of the union vote by college President Sunil Chand. He sent a memo to classified employees on July 24 that listed four reasons employees shouldn't unionize. The reasons included the loss of individual contract negotiations, no guarantee of higher wages or improved benefits and mandatory union dues.

"The college has historically worked with each of you fairly and equitably," Chand wrote. "We believe that you have been and continue to be ably represented under our current employment relationship."

Requests for further comment from the college administration weren't immediately returned Tuesday.