While contract negotiations between the college and the Part-Time Faculty Association continue, an election will be held Nov. 19 to appoint new members to the association’s Steering Committee. According to Joseph Laiacona, part-time instructor in the Interactive Arts and Media Department and current vice president of P-Fac, what is normally an intelligible process has been met with contention as he and a group of adjunct faculty members feel the current negotiation team has done an inadequate job of spearheading negotiations with the college.

The contract for part-time faculty expired on Aug. 31. Since then, the current negotiation team for P-Fac has bargained with the college in order to draft a new contract. Laiacona said he disapproves of how the negotiations

have progressed.

Each fall, an election is held in which P-Fac members cast votes for their peers they deem most capable to comprise the Steering Committee. Those elected assume their positions the following spring. One of the tasks appointed to the Steering Committee is assembling the bargaining team, which is the group responsible for negotiating a new contract with the college.

In a letter addressed to all adjunct faculty, Laiacona urged P-Fac members to cast their vote for particular individuals—including himself—whom he feels are qualified to overcome the challenges currently facing the union.

In the letter, Laiacona described the Steering Committee as rife with strife, distrust, factionalism and anger. By appointing new members, he hopes the change in personnel will facilitate better communication within the union.

“We’ve never had such a contentious election,” Laiacona said. “Some of us don’t believe the strategy the current team is using is helpful to the way our union ought to be run.”

Meanwhile, Diana Vallera, part-time instructor in the Photography Department and current chief negotiator for P-Fac, is concurrently urging union members to vote for a separate group of adjuncts—including herself.

In a letter collectively drafted to all part-time faculty members, the group referred to itself as the bravest, most active members of P-Fac.

Despite this, in addition to a boost in morale, Laiacona said implementing different members on the Steering Committee will eventually lead to a new negotiating team, which according to him, will expedite the current bargaining going on between the union and the college.

Laiacona said the current strategy employed by the negotiating team is ill-defined, despite its perception as

being efficient.

“I think [we will see] better results by bargaining honestly, fairly and directly without failing to respect one another in negotiations,” Laiacona said. “We’re going to negotiate [by] keeping the mission statement of the college, in terms of student education, at the forefront of our attitudes and

our actions.”

However, Vallera said negotiations with the college have proven to be successful. According to her, Laiacona’s discernment of the negotiations is

inaccurate.

“The negotiations team is doing really well,” Vallera said. “We’re a unified team. I’ve been sitting at the table. We are very committed to this contract, and there’s nothing that’s interfering with our bargaining.”

Laiacona was at one point a member of the negotiations team until being asked to resign in mid-April on the grounds he was a disruptive force on the committee.

Peter Insley, part-time instructor in the Math and Science Department and current member of P-Fac’s Steering Committee, said he will relinquish his position because of the union’s alleged inner squabbling.

“It started with them losing respect for each, and it just went downhill from there,” Insley said. “They just got to the point where they wouldn’t talk to each other. Nothing works if the Steering Committee can’t work together, including the negotiations.”

According to Insley, the intricacies included in doctoring a new contract are usually handled before the existing contract expires. Because details of a new contract have yet to be decided, Insley said he feels weary of the negotiation team’s ability to bargain on the union members’ behalf.

“They say everything’s fine, but we don’t have anything solid that makes you believe that,” Insley said. “We were kind of expecting the negotiation—it started in Februrary—we thought maybe April, maybe June it’d be over. And here it is, October.”

Meanwhile, Nancy Traver, part-time instructor in the Journalism Department, said she believes the union is doing an adequate job of bargaining on behalf of the college’s adjunct faculty.

“I personally have been in several unions, and it’s not always possible to get everything worked out by the end of the contract,” Traver said. “Nevertheless, the part-time faculty members are working in good faith because we know the union is negotiating a new contract. I know we’ll get a pay raise.”

Despite diverging opinions, Laiacona said the results of this election will be extremely important for the future of P-Fac, regardless of who is elected to the Steering Committee.

“The elections will say whether the voting membership of P-Fac aggress with me or agrees with the other faction running,” Laiacona said. “And whether it’s an antagonistic, traditional approach, or whether it’s a conciliatory and collegiate approach. We don’t have great disagreement in the objective. The disagreement is in the strategy.”

Laiacona was at one point a member of the negotiations team until being asked to resign in mid-April on the grounds he was a disruptive force on the committee.

Peter Insley, part-time instructor in the Math and Science Department and current member of P-Fac’s Steering Committee, said he will relinquish his position because of the union’s alleged inner squabbling.

“It started with them losing respect for each other, and it just went downhill from there,” Insley said. “They just got to the point where they wouldn’t talk to each other. Nothing works if the Steering Committee can’t work together.:

According to Insley, the intricacies involved in doctoring a new contract are usually handled before the existing contract expires. Because details of a new contract have yet to be decided, Insley said he feels wary of the negotiation team’s ability to negotiate.

“We were kind of expecting the negotiation—it started in Februrary—we thought maybe April, maybe June it’d be over. And here it is, October,” Insley said.

Meanwhile, Nancy Traver, part-time instructor in the Journalism Department, said she believes the union is

negotiating well.

“I personally have been in several unions, and it’s not always possible to get everything worked out by the end of the contract,” Traver said. “We know the union is negotiating a

new contract. I know we’ll get a pay raise.”

Despite diverging opinions, Laiacona said the results of this election will be extremely important for the future

of P-Fac.

“The elections will say whether the voting membership of P-Fac agrees with me or agrees with the other faction running,” Laiacona said. “And whether it’s an antagonistic, traditional approach, or whether it’s a conciliatory and collegiate approach. We don’t have great disagreement in the objective. The disagreement is in the strategy.”

John Casey, a part-time instructor in the English department, is running unaffiliated.