Faculty at Green River College will begin a three-day strike on Monday.
The United Faculty board voted unanimously on Friday to strike. Union members authorized the strike last week after college administrators announced 11 programs facing elimination.
Administrators said the cuts are necessary due to a $4.5 million operating budget gap, but faculty members disagree with the claim.
The announcement of the potential cuts added to growing discontent on campus. Faculty and students have expressed concerns about the college leadership’s management of funding and lack of communication and interaction with campus constituents.
Since 2013, the union has presented the college’s Board of Trustees with three Votes of No Confidence in President Eileen Ely – the most recent at a board meeting last Thursday – as well as a vote of No Confidence in the board. In recent week’s students and faculty have organized rallies and walkouts and packed board meetings, asking for Ely’s resignation and an end to the proposed cuts.
Students received an email from Ely late Friday afternoon addressing concerns about the strike. The email was sent before the union officially notified the college of the strike.
“In the event that a strike occurs, the college will immediately take action to ensure the strike ends quickly and that any potential harm to you, our students, is minimized as much as possible,” the email said. “We are committed to your success and will do everything in our power to make sure that each of you receives what you need to achieve your goals for this quarter.”
Details and updates about the strike, will be posted on the college’s website, greenriver.edu, according to the email.
Union leaders opted for a three-day strike to ensure students can complete spring quarter, Jamie Fitzgerald, English department chair and union spokesman, said.
“We are very, very concerned about the students,” he said. “We don’t want to jeopardize the students.”
Not all faculty have chosen to participate in the strike, Fitzgerald said, but said he expected at least 100 to cross the picket lines Monday morning.
There will be picket lines at the main campus in Auburn, 12401 SE 320th St., and satellite campuses at Kent Station, 417 Ramsey Way, and in Enumclaw, 1414 Griffin Ave., as well as at the intersection of Auburn Way North and 15th Street Northeast.
Faculty at Green River College will begin a three-day strike on Monday.
The United Faculty board voted unanimously on Friday to strike. Union members authorized the strike last week after college administrators announced 11 programs facing elimination.
Administrators said the cuts are necessary due to a $4.5 million operating budget gap, but faculty members disagree with the claim.
The announcement of the potential cuts added to growing discontent on campus. Faculty and students have expressed concerns with college leadership’s management of funding and lack of communication and interaction with campus constituents.
Since 2013, the union has presented the college’s Board of Trustees with three Votes of No Confidence in President Eileen Ely – the most recent at a board meeting last Thursday – as well as a vote of No Confidence in the board. In recent week’s students and faculty have organized rallies and walkouts and packed board meetings, asking for Ely’s resignation and an end to the proposed cuts.
Students received an email from Ely late Friday afternoon addressing concerns about the strike. The email was sent before the union officially notified the college of the strike.
“In the event that a strike occurs, the college will immediately take action to ensure the strike ends quickly and that any potential harm to you, our students, is minimized as much as possible,” the email said. “We are committed to your success and will do everything in our power to make sure that each of you receives what you need to achieve your goals for this quarter.”
Details and updates about the strike, will be posted on the college’s website, greenriver.edu, according to the email.
Union leaders opted for a three-day strike to ensure students can complete spring quarter, Jamie Fitzgerald, English department chair and union spokesman, said.
“We are very, very concerned about the students,” he said. “We don’t want to jeopardize the students.”
Not all faculty have chosen to participate in the strike, Fitzgerald said, but said he expected at least 100 to cross the picket lines Monday morning.
There will be picket lines at the main campus in Auburn, 12401 SE 320th St., and satellite campuses at Kent Station, 417 Ramsey Way, and in Enumclaw, 1414 Griffin Ave., as well as at the intersection of Auburn Way North and 15th Street Northeast.
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