COLUMBIA, M.d. — Advocates for faculty at Howard Community College are celebrating what they believe is a win during a tense back-and-forth during its first-ever union contract negotiations.
In February, the American Federation of Teachers accused the college of retaliatory unfair labor practices on campus. Five months later, the groups settled.
In the new settlement agreement, the college admitted it may have violated the law, though unintentionally, when security officers were given orders to take down pro-union signs.
It happened after the Howard County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the college in another unfair labor practice complaint by the AFT.
“There’s a lot of anxiety, there's a lot of emotions tied to all of this,” Dr. Nadene Vevea, who chairs the HCC union chapter. “Whether it's a paycheck issue, whether it's a negotiation issue, whether it's feeling like we're being targeted for having a sign on a window, all of those things sort of create this culture of fear that exists on campus.”
The college does have a policy against signs on structures, including windows; however, Vevea notes that the union signs were the only ones targeted by security.
The complaint was settled in the mutual interest of maintaining negotiations for a new contract.
Last week, faculty held a rally as talks stalled over salary expectations.
As part of the agreement, the college does not admit any intentional wrongdoing.
“Ultimately, we see this as a win for the rights of faculty, particularly those who were afraid of retaliation by joining the union from the administration,” Vevea said.
Under the settlement, the college has also agreed be reimburse the union $10, the cost of replacing the signage, educate the administration on the rights of faculty, as well as release a public statement.
“HCC acknowledges that it may have violated PERA sections 22-206A1N4 when it enforced various procedures by removing pro-union signage posted by union members within a building on HCC’s campus,” Delisle Warden, HCC VP for policy and general counsel, says in the video. “HCC threatened but did not take disciplinary action against union members following the members' refusal to remove their posted union signage.”
The union also agreed to stipulations, including removing all items from their external office windows, though WMAR-2 News witnessed one of these signs still on display.
Contract negotiations continue, though the hope is, they will be done soon.
