Debunking a Few Myths

The following are some myths you might encounter about our system:

Myth: AFT faculty teach five classes.
Not True: The AFT adopted our Additional Responsibilities (i.e. 20%) language in the 1990’s. AFT faculty teach four classes and perform AR duties as their regular workload.

Myth: Professionals work until the job is done and are not paid based on the hours worked.
Not True: Management often promulgates this myth. They use it to try to shame us into working for nothing. The truth is that professionals get paid. Only amateurs work for free. (Check your pay stub to see your hourly rate of pay.)

Myth: Blue-collar, non-professional employees pay attention to time spent on the job. We are not like them, so we should not pay attention to time spent on the job.
Not True: Lawyers bill by time. Check what your surgeon’s bill is for a few hours spent in the operating room. The more professional preparation one has, the more his/her time is worth.

Myth: The Community College system lacks resources.
Not True: Our system has a cash reserve of over $35 million, up from $4 million just a few years ago. We see management has money for their needs and desires. They only cry poverty when it comes to our needs and desires or the needs and desires of our students.

Myth: By making a wage concession in 2003, we saved the system.
Not True: We are the system. No student comes to our colleges to see a dean, a president, or a system office manager. When we, the human capital of the system, are injured, the system is injured. (By the way, when will it be management’s turn to save the system?)

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