Union agreements may mark new era of cooperation with Kean

By Zoe Strozewski | Published by October 5, 2020

Dr. Lamont Repollet, Kean’s new president, is reversing the controversial retrenchment of music faculty in what may be a new era of cooperation between the university and the Kean Federation of Teachers (KFT).

Additionally, an area that Repollet pinpointed for needing improvement in his Aug. 31 Opening Day Address was faculty diversity. The union agreed with Repollet to hire eight new full time lecturers to better represent the diversity of the student body.

In an email sent to all KFT bargaining unit members on Sept. 28, KFT President James Castiglione said that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) National President Randi Weingarten visited Kean on Sept. 24 and met with President Lamont Repollet to discuss labor-management relations at Kean.

 The next day, the union and university signed three agreements that addressed issues of “mutual concern,” including saving the jobs of the vast majority of the faculty and staff who received layoff notices this past summer, the email said.

“I am grateful to AFT President Randi Weingarten for meeting with me and others at Kean as we work together to reset labor-management relations at the University,” Repollet said. “I look forward to working cooperatively in a climate that values everyone’s contributions as we build on Kean’s success and become the next great research university in the State of New Jersey.”

Besides music, information is not yet available regarding which programs the other restored faculty and staff are from. The art history faculty, who were also retrenched last year, are not included in these agreements. A separate agreement signed in August had already secured their jobs until the end of May 2021, Castiglione said.

“I think this sends a great signal that instead of relying on a traditional adversarial labor management posture of contention and fighting, it shows that Dr, Repollet is a very forward thinking president,” Castiglione said. “He understands the important role that labor unions play in public colleges and universities.”

The fight for the music conservatory was happening long before Repollet started his presidency, when Dr. Dawood Farahi was still in the post.

The program began experiencing difficulty in the Spring 2020 semester, when popular courses in the department were cancelled and course caps were raised. The Board of Trustees later approved a resolution at its May 11 meeting to suspend a host of academic programs, including music, sustainability sciences and theatre, and lay off dozens faculty and staff.

Farahi told the Board the cuts were needed in response to financial concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many considered the program eliminations an attack on the arts, and the resulting backlash generated a petition that received over 8,000 signatures as of Sept. 29 and a car protest through downtown Union titled “Caravan for Kean” on June 18. 

The other agreements eliminate Professional Development Days in the spring and winter for faculty, cancel time sheets that the faculty have been required to fill out for years under the Farahi administration. The university also will also renegotiate 12-month lecturer agreements, and meet to negotiate financial support for attending conferences, research and similar pursuits, the email said. 

“Conference attendance and all of the professional development opportunities that faculty can take advantage of are likely to be a substantial source for faculty to meet their professional development expectations,” Castiglione said.

After graduation, full time faculty were required to convert their classes to a specific format created by Kean Online, which includes requirements such as discussion questions. The agreements stipulated that the university will provide deferred payments to instructors who converted classes into online courses over the summer 

In response to these changes, the union agreed to and rescind all litigation relating to any issues addressed in the agreements.  Under the Farahi administration, numerous grievances were filed by the KFT regarding these issues. and consented to 30 hours of professional development requirements for faculty throughout the fall and spring semesters, the email said.

Castiglione believes these agreements and the collaboration they entailed bode well for labor-management relations and university success in the future.

“We have been very appreciative of the inclusive and professional manner in which he [Repollet] has engaged us, and we really believe it bodes very well for the future of the university,” Castiglione said. “It will really help vault the university into higher realms of achievement because we’re all going to be working together and seeking common ground and effective solutions to the problems that jointly confront us.”

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