TROUTDALE, Ore. – Teachers at Mount Hood Community College are frustrated they still have not reached a contract deal yet, voting to authorize their union to set a strike date.
The vote does not put the faculty on strike. It triggers a process where the school administration has 10 days to return to the bargaining table. Failure to negotiate a settlement then would lead to a strike.
The full-time faculty association, which includes 160 teachers, has been in negotiations with MHCC for almost a full year. Theirs is the only union on campus which has not struck a deal.
MHCC board members said they have offered the teachers union fair wages, medical packages and other benefits.
“We’ve lived up the obligation under what we call a cooperative pledge - that we will provide appropriate compensation to all of our faculty,” said MHCC board member Dave Shields. “In fact, we’ve gone above and beyond that, so I don’t think there’s too much to compromise anymore, because we have a real serious problem with our budget.”
Union members said they want the public to know it’s not just about money and the board needs to find a way to make cuts elsewhere.
“I think this is about much more than economics and they want to continue the conversation really focused on economics,” said Sara Williams, a math teacher at MHCC and chair of the faculty bargaining team. “For faculty, this is really about… a lack of being valued and a lack of respect.”
Meantime, students told KGW they’re concerned about what may happen next.
“I’m worried who’s going to be teaching my physics class in a week or two and what this campus is going to look like, it’s going to be crazy,” said engineering student Cheryl Barnes.
MHCC board members and faculty agreed to do everything possible to make sure students are not affected if teachers decide to strike.
(KGW reporter Colette Wieland contributed to this report.)
