AFT, Local 212

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A Message From Local 212 President Michael Rosen:

Sept. 29, 2004
Last night the MATC Board voted to restore five of the Student Service Specialist positions: two positions in Multicultural, two in the Bilingual offices, and one on the south campus.

This is a victory, and it is the result of your efforts. I cannot adequately thank those of you who have come to meeting after meeting to express your outrage and concern. Without your efforts our Hmong, Spanish speaking and Native American students would not be adequately served by MATC.

It is also a sad commentary that is so difficult for this administration to grasp something so basic and elementary as providing services to Hmong, Native American and Spanish-speaking students. It should not have required the mobilization of literally hundreds of members over the past six months to get these crucial positions restored.

But the glass is only half filled. Thirty other Student Service and Educational Specialist positions remain cut to ten months rather than being full-year positions. These include professionals who recruit students, tutor students, help retain students and run our computer labs. These are also crucial positions!

The administration manages to find the resources to increase the salaries of highly paid administrators. It manages to find resources to hold public-relations receptions throughout town. If it has these funds, then surely it can find the money to provide direct services to students.

This fight is not over!

The administration has excluded Local 212 from meaningful participation in planning which positions should be filled and which reduced or eliminated. We will continue to demand that it live up to the college’s commitment to shared governance.

We will continue to demand that the administration honor the Board’s stated commitment to serve all the students of the district.

We will continue to demand that before any new positions are filled, the Student Service positions must be filled.

Thank you again for supporting your union. Remember, without your efforts over the past year MATC would not have an Adult High School or childcare centers, we would only have one ten-month Native American Student Service Specialist, no full time Hmong or Spanish-speaking specialist, and we would not even be called MATC. You have made a difference.

Thanks and remember, with unity there is strength.

Rep. Pedro Colón's Letter to Dr. Cole - September 28, 2004

Michael Rosen's Speech to the MATC Board - September 29, 2004

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