CCRI faculty to picket for new contract

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — The CCRI Faculty Association (CCRIFA) plans to picket for a new contract on all four of the school’s campuses on the first day of the spring semester.

The picket will be held due to the school’s management’s refusal to negotiate a fair contract, according to the National Education Association Rhode Island.

The CCRIFA has been working without a new contract since June of 2022, and they are in mediation with management, with no responses to the union’s latest proposal.

The school’s management also have not brought a proposal of their own to the process.

Along with the picket, there will also be a speaking program at the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick on January 22.

This program is intended to encourage management to bargain a fair contract for the 300 full-time faculty at CCRI.

The Council for Postsecondary Education also released the following statement:

The Council on Postsecondary Education, CCRI, and the full-time faculty union’s negotiating teams have negotiated for more than 18 months for a new contract for this bargaining unit. During this process, the Council’s and the college’s negotiating team and the union’s negotiating team agreed to two tentative agreements, each of which were voted down by the union’s membership. The negotiation of this contract is now in the statutory mediation process, which is ongoing.

The Council and CCRI have tremendous respect for the faculty and the role they play in providing excellent teaching and learning to our students. The Council and CCRI will continue to negotiate in good faith and remain hopeful the matter can be resolved quickly and fairly for all involved through the current mediation process.

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