Contract Introduction and Resources

A Collective Bargaining Agreement is also known as a CBA or a contract. We ratified our current contract on September 30, 2006 and CLC’s Board of Trustees adopted the contract on October 24, 2006. The contract is in force until the first day of classes of the Fall 2009 semester. We encourage you to read your contract. Knowing your contract is the best way to exercise your rights! And of course, should you have questions, contact any officer.

CLC is responsible for printing and distributing the CBA to eligible adjuncts. You can pick up a copy in the Human Resources office. It is also available online on the CLC Intranet. Click “Faculty Resources – Full Time and Adjunct”. You will also find the most recent versions of forms e.g. Tuition Waiver and Professional Development Request.

What is an “Eligible Adjunct”?

Some CLC-AFO documents use the term “eligible adjunct” as an abbreviation of “an adjunct faculty member who is eligible for union membership.” The term also means “member of the bargaining unit that CLC-AFO represents.” Here’s the contract’s definition of an eligible adjunct:

Those persons who enter the bargaining unit after assignment of at least three (3) credit hours of instruction for three consecutive semesters excluding summer session.

That’s the same definition we used when organizing the union in Spring 2005. The contract’s provisions apply only to eligible adjuncts. The union provides representation only for eligible adjuncts. Please do not hesitate to contact the union:

  • if you want to know whether you’re eligible,
  • if you think you’ve been wrongly categorized as ineligible, or
  • if you are ineligible but still want to participate in CLC’s adjunct union.

Some adjuncts who return to CLC after a break from teaching will be affected by the following provision of our new contract:

  • Four (4) consecutive semesters (Fall and Spring) without teaching at least three credit hours will constitute a break in service if the adjunct is not assigned a section by the 10th day of the fifth semester.
  • The adjunct faculty member must be assigned and teach at least three (3) credit hours of instruction for three consecutive semesters (excluding Summer) to reestablish membership in the bargaining unit.

Here’s an example of how this provision works. Sophia taught six credit-hours in every Fall and Spring semester from Fall 2001 to Fall 2005. When she requests a teaching assignment for Spring 2007, and when she begins teaching in Spring 2007, Sophia is an eligible adjunct and has the protections and benefits of the CBA. This is because Sophia was an eligible adjunct (i.e. a member of the bargaining unit) at the end of the Fall 2005 semester. When she returns in Spring 2007, she will have spent only two consecutive semesters (Spring 2006 and Fall 2006) wihout teaching at CLC. Sophia did not take a break in service, and is not required to reestablish membership in the bargaining unit.

WHERE DO OUR DUES GO? During the ’08-’09 school year, union members and fair share adjuncts paid $106.37 per semester in dues. Dues of $17.73 were deducted from the last 6 paychecks of each semester. However, the CLC-AFO does not receive the entire amount. The $106.37 is distributed to all of our affiliated organizations. (See the chart below.) Of the $106.37, the CLC-AFO received $8.10 per adjunct each semester. Note that no dues are collected during the summer. And if you are not teaching during a particular semester, you do not pay dues. Fair Share Adjuncts: why not join the union? Please see our “Top 10 Reasons to Join” as well as the discussion of Weingarten Rights. You are paying dues: avail yourself of the benefits of membership! Contact an officer for a membership form, pick one up from the CLC-AFO bulletin board in the A wing or stop by Local 504 at 248 Ambrogio Drive in Gurnee.

  • AFL-CIO
  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
  • Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT)
  • Lake County Federation of Teachers (LCFT) Local 504
  • College of Lake County Adjunct Faculty Organization