Teacher/Educator Union Experience

[melimo1315]

I thought there were a few teachers out here and I was hoping to pick your brains.

Back story:
I've been teaching part time at a community college since the spring semester of 2009. I've never skipped a semester until this past semester. I worked during both pregnancies until the day before my Csections. With DS1 Oct13, I took the rest of the semester off but returned in January for spring semester. This time I took the rest of the semester off and was intending to go back in January. I wasn't able to get medical clearance to go back. The semester started 6 wks PP but my OB was comfortable at me going back at 8 if I needed to go back to work.

My dept head was ok with me skipping this semester since she has 3 kids and had Csections. We agreed I'd come back this fall. I emailed her in March and to touch base. Both times she said great I will fit you in.

I emailed her on Friday and she assigned all the courses and didn't give me any. She didn't give any explanation just that the courses are all assigned. We did have an issue back in October when the sub that she recommended and hired reminded to take extra vitamin A and cod liver oil (both known to cause fetal deformities and/or death). He also suggested I come in for a show and tell on how to feed a baby so the class wouldn't notice him. I reported my remarks to her and she laughed it off and said he was joking.

HR also screwed up my payroll during leave which affected my taxes and they have yet to fix it. They claim they weren't informed of my leave.

Final question:
I now have no employment for the fall. I understand this position is a semester by semester appointment. I haven't gotten anything lower than a 4.2 out of 5 for my evaluations. Do I have a case for my union? I feel royally screwed, am I overreacting?

[fuzzylogic]

I have no idea about your question but the remarks that sub made were highly inappropriate.

[melimo1315]

I totally agree which is why I said something to the head of the department and then the head of the division. Both shrugged it off and said he's sarcastic. I also mentioned something to the Dean a few times but received no reply.

I was pretty bullshit and refused to meet him in person to give him the class materials. He was the TA and star pupil of the dept head which is how he got the sub position with only holding an Associates. It looks like he's teaching the courses I typically teach in the fall.

Douchebags all of them

[fuzzylogic]

That is some bullshit. It's like he just slid into your job. Dick.

Why don't people understand that talking baby stuff is off-limits from an HR standpoint? When our principal said to our department heads that they needed to tell their respective departments that no one can have babies for two years (money was tight for subs), well, that just didn't go over well. Really can't say that, dude.

[melimo1315]

Apparently it's ok for him to say that because his wife is a preschool teacher and he has 6 grandkids...according to my supervisors.

I'm not even sure how he was hired since you need at a minimum a masters to teach.

I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to the situation without being a total bitch but that's likely not happening.

[fightersince83]

Hmm, I'm not at a college so I don't know how that works. I'm going to page rainbowbridge14 and see if she has suggestions/advice for you

[rainbowbridge14]

Jul 15, 2016 12:42:39 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

Hmm, I'm not at a college so I don't know how that works. I'm going to page rainbowbridge14 and see if she has suggestions/advice for you

Hi fighter! Thanks for tge tag.

I don't go here but I'll add what I can. Some questions (feel free to not answer or pm if it's too much info) Are you adjunct faculty or tenured part time? If you are adjunct do adjunct faculty jave a union contract? I know some universities where adjuncts have unionized for collective bargaining and it seems like they have better options for recourse in the face of unfair labor practice. In my mind I would think talking it over with a union rep could be useful because they can give you an idea of what they could do in the situation. I would be wondering if the refusal to reassign classes had to do with you having a child or the report of sexual harrassment (I would classify it as such since it involved unwanted comments about your body) both of which would be discrimination. In my mind you are not making too big a deal out of it and I would at least pursue what options you have but if your union does not have a collective bargaining agreement it may be much harder. Schools get away with a lot of clear cut discrimination against adjuncts due to the nature of the part time contracts. It sounds like you got a shit deal and they are trying to sweep it under the rug.

[melimo1315]

rainbowbridge14

Thanks so much for your help. I'm part time adjunct and my contracts are semester by semester. I pay union dues each semester but am unclear what that gets me since no information was ever provided. When HR screwed up my pay, they claimed they weren't informed of my leaving early to give birth but I emailed 4 separate people in HR. I ended up being paid for the weeks I was off and then was told they used my sick time to reimburse themselves. I didn't know I had sick time. They have yet to send me a fixed tax form.

I honestly believe it has to do with reporting the sexual harassment. I went back the following semester after DS1 and said from day 1 of my second pregnancy I was going back. It sucks that it prob is me reporting that douche especially since he's not minimally qualified to teach. I have an email out to my union rep since he isn't on campus.

It definitely suck to now have to jump on the job search train and potentially daycare.

Thanks to fightersince83 as