Article 24: Union Rights

24.1

The following rights shall be granted exclusively to the Union, and shall not be granted to any other labor organization.

24.2

The College shall provide the Union payroll deduction for membership dues for employees who authorize the deductions in the amount designated by the Union. The deductions shall be made provided the deduction request is submitted to the College's payroll office on a form authorized by the Union. The deductions shall be made from employee paychecks for each pay period. The authorizations may be submitted to the payroll office at any time, and the deductions will commence on the following payday. The deductions shall be transmitted to the Union within a reasonable period of time following each pay date at which the deductions were made. Employee authorizations shall be continuous and may be terminated at any time. The Union shall notify the Payroll Office and the bargaining unit employees of any change in the deduction amounts at least ten (10) days prior to the effective date of the new amount. When a change is implemented, deductions for bargaining unit members who previously granted authorization, will continue at the new rate, unless the employee specifically opts out. The Union agrees to indemnify, defend, and render the College and Governing Board harmless for any action resulting from compliance with this provision.

24.3

The amount for membership dues to be deducted from each employee’s wages will be certified in writing by the Union. In the event the amount of membership dues changes, the College shall implement such change within a reasonable time period.

24.3.1

The parties agree that it is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that dues are being deducted from their paychecks, and alert both the College and the CNMEU Executive Council if that is not the case, so the error can be rectified.

24.4

The Union shall be permitted to use E-mail at College worksites for the dissemination of Information in accordance with Section 10-7E-15 subsection H of the Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA). Nothing inflammatory, derogatory, or disruptive to good labor management relations shall be contained in the email or written documents to be distributed and/or posted or communications with any College student media. Such information will be distributed and/or posted by Union representatives. For email communications to the entire bargaining unit utilizing the CNM email system, the Union agrees to provide a copy in advance to CNM’s Labor Relations Officer. Only communications approved by the CNMEU Executive Council will be accepted by the CNM Labor Relations Officer. College resources shall not be used for any union activity including but not limited to political issues or a campaign for an individual candidate or an organization unless specifically authorized elsewhere in this Agreement unless the parties agree to an exception. In the event the College believes a violation of this Article has occurred, it shall be brought to the attention of the CNMEU Executive Council and the distribution in question shall be halted.

24.5

The Union may use meeting areas in College buildings at no cost to the Union provided advanced scheduling has been made with the College and provided such meetings do not conflict with scheduled events or the College's facilities policy.

24.6

The Union may be granted two (2) paid leave days and two (2) unpaid days each year of the contract during which Union representatives may conduct Union business. These days shall be scheduled through the Labor Relations Officer in a manner that does not unreasonably disrupt the educational program(s).

24.7

The Union shall be provided bulletin board space in each department.

24.8

Federation officials and/or representatives who are not College employees shall have the right to visit worksites for the purpose of conducting representational business provided they do not interfere with any employee's work schedule.

24.9

In accordance with Section 10-7E-15 subsection F of the PEBA, the College shall provide to the Union, in an editable digital file format agreed to by the Union the following information for each employee of the bargaining unit: (1) a listing of all bargaining unit arranged according to hire date. (2) the employee’s name and date of hire; (3) contact information, including (a) cellular, home and work telephone; (b) means of electronic communication, including work and personal electronic mail addresses and (c) home address or personal mailing address; (4) employment information, including the employee’s job title, salary and work site location. The College shall provide the information described above to the Union within ten days from the date of hire for newly hired employees in the bargaining unit. The Union shall include in each communication sent to employees an opportunity for an employee to be removed from Union communications.

24.9.1

The Union will be provided 30 minutes, without loss of leave or pay, to meet with new employees or make a presentation during new employee orientation, at a time determined by the College. The parties agree that this provision does not constitute approval for contravening established policies that govern a faculty member’s obligation, when the faculty member is also a Union Representative, to teach as scheduled, or find a substitute when the faculty member is not available to teach.

24.10

The Union worksite representatives are recognized as Union spokespersons in their respective worksites if they have been so designated in writing. This recognition carries with it the right of the representatives to carry out their Union responsibilities provided these responsibilities do not interfere with the representative’s or the employees’ workload minimum as delineated in Article 32. Within 30 days of the signing of this Agreement, the CNMEU Executive Council shall notify in writing the College’s Labor Relations Officer of the worksite representatives and changes within 10 days of when they occur.  The College shall recognize these representatives as Union spokespersons at the worksites.  Anyone whose name does not appear on the notification to the College’s Labor Relations Officer shall not receive any recognition.

24.10.1

Worksite representatives may distribute Union materials and conduct business provided this activity does not interfere with the representative's workload schedule. Materials distributed shall be in compliance with the provisions identified above in 24.4.

24.10.2

The worksite representative shall have the right to bring to the attention of the worksite supervisor all matters pertaining to the rights of the Union and other concerns of the employees provided these activities do not interfere with the representative's work schedule.

24.11

The involvement of students in employment disputes is prohibited. This provision shall not prevent a student from serving as a witness in a faculty member’s disciplinary process if the student is integral to the process.

24.12

The President or the President’s designee shall determine what tasks teams or committees will be established and the responsibilities of those task teams or committees. When the College and the Union agree that it is appropriate for the Union to be represented in a College task team or committee, the Union shall be represented. Such Union representation shall commence after the College and the Union mutually agree upon the number of Union representative(s).

24.13

The Union President or the Union President’s designated Executive Committee member, may attend President’s Council meetings as a means of ensuring that the Union is informed of issues that may impact bargaining unit members.