JCC Union Requesting College Support In Contract Approval

NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist Jeff Keppel addresses Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees on behalf of JCC Service Administration Union (July 18, 2023)

Jamestown Community College Service Administration is asking the JCC Board of Trustees for help in getting a new contract approved.

The union, which includes administrative and maintenance staff, has been without a contract since August 2019.

NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist Jeff Keppel spoke at the Board of Trustees meeting and presented board members an open letter from the Service Association Action Team.

Keppel said the union has only received a 1% increase in the 2018-2019 contract, with zero pay increases every other year going back to 2016, “We need you guys to step in, help out with the situation, help everybody. We were a 140 plus members. We’re down to 60-some members. The college is suffering because of it. You can see the grounds aren’t kept up to the point that they used to be in the past. The services in the cleaning and that are not kept up as they used to in the past. We need to get restored to our regular levels. We need to get a contract in place. Get this contract so it’s fair for the college and fair for us.”

Keppel said impasse has failed and the process has moved to fact finding. He said the team has always been willing to meet in the middle, “In our last mediation session, we gave the college an offer that moved head and toes above where everybody was before. We’re waiting to hear where that is. But anything that you guys can do, we really appreciate it.”

According to the open letter to the board, the College has proposed increasing health insurance costs while reducing early retirement packages, longevity payments, sick days received, and the elimination of a sick day bonus.

The letter also noted that the JCC Board of Trustees approved increasing College President Dr. Daniel DeMarte‘s salary to $192,800 in July 2022 including retro pay. The Jamestown Community College administration staff also received raises each of the past three years.