CCRI faculty members hold informational picket seeking contract negotiations

WARWICK – Faculty members with the Community College of Rhode Island on Jan. 22 held an informational picket across all its campuses, including at its Knight Campus, urging college officials to return to the bargaining table for a new contract.

The CCRI Faculty Association, affiliated with the National Education Association Rhode Island, consists of approximately 300 full-time faculty, according to the association. Those faculty members teach English as a second language and job skills for various industries, including nursing, dental hygiene and renewable energy.

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The association held the picket as students returned for the first day of classes for the spring semester. Mazin Adam, CCRIFA local president and professor of art at the state community college, said in a statement that the association has been working without a new contract since June 2022. Adam says the union and CCRI are engaged in mediation, however management has “not responded” to the union’s latest offer or “brought any proposals of their own” to resolve the dispute. Also, no negotiation dates are currently scheduled, he said.

NEARI spokesperson Stephanie Mandeville declined to comment on details involving negotiations, including what was the faculty association’s proposed offer to CCRI that college officials have yet to respond to. She did say it is the association’s hope that the two sides can come back together “and work toward a fair and respectful contract.”

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Beth Bailey, spokesperson for the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, told Providence Business News in an email that the R.I. Council on Postsecondary Education, CCRI and the faculty’s union have negotiated for a new contract for more than 18 months. The negotiating teams for all sides, she said, agreed to two tentative agreements, “each of which were voted down by the union’s membership,” hence the matter is now in mediation.

“The Council and CCRI have tremendous respect for the faculty and the role they play in providing excellent teaching and learning to our students,” Bailey said in the email. “The council and CCRI will continue to negotiate in good faith and remain hopeful the matter can be resolved quickly and fairly for all involved through the current mediation process.”

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette