Your current FA officers are, from left, Secretary Cynthia Eaton, Adjunct Coordinator Kim Ng Southard, President Dante Morelli, Executive Vice President Courtney Brewer, Grievance Officer John Capurso and Treasurer Pete DiGregorio. (photo by Victoria Pendzick)

It is hard to believe we have a month of 2026 behind us already. Time seems to be barreling forward and, before we know it, we will be in contract negotiations.

Before we focus on that critical aspect of our union, however, tomorrow is the college’s Professional Development Day (PDD). As indicated in my email last week, we ask that you bring in some items for our campus food pantries which are in need of being restocked. The FA has long donated annually to all three pantries because we know how important it is to support our students in every possible way.

• All FA members who bring in pantry donations will receive a raffle ticket to be eligible to win a $100 Amex gift card sponsored by the FA!

You can drop off your donations first thing in the morning, right by the PDD sign-in table, and receive your raffle ticket there. You have to be present for the drawing at the end of the day to win.

Contract negotiations overview

Our current stipulation of agreement between the county and the college will expire on August 31, 2026. We are preparing for negotiations this semester and will be engaging the membership. This semester, you will receive a survey to share ideas about upcoming negotiations. Additionally, we will hold in-person contract forums at each of the three campuses as well as a forum on Zoom. I will send messages to the membership announcing the survey as well as dates and times of the in-person and remote (Zoom) contract forums.

The process for obtaining a fair contract involves many steps. First, a negotiations team needs to be formed, and the FA Bylaws dictate that we must have representation of both full-time and adjunct members across classification, academic disciplines and specific departments. If the Executive Council (EC) approves the negotiations team at our next EC meeting, I will announce the team in the mid-semester issue of The WORD. Also, to help you stay informed, remember that you should receive a meeting summary from your EC rep after our monthly meetings and that our formal meeting minutes are posted on the FA website once approved.

The process for negotiating a fair contract includes multiple negotiations meetings between the FA, representatives from administration and Suffolk County Labor Relations. Our FA Executive Vice President Courtney Brewer, NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist Damon Levenstien and I will be meeting regularly with college and county representatives as we negotiate. We then communicate details of those meetings with our negotiations team to craft our proposal.

When we get to the point where we believe we have a fair contract proposal in place, the negotiations team needs to formally vote on the proposal, after which the following groups must also review and/or approve it, in this order:

• FA Executive Council (EC) for vote
• General membership meeting for review and discussion
• Mailed to membership for formal ratification vote
• SCCC Board of Trustees for vote
• Suffolk County Legislature’s Education, Labor, Consumer Affairs, and Diversity Committee for vote
• Suffolk County Legislature for vote.

We do not yet have an anticipated timeline for when these actions will happen and will not rush this process to meet a specific deadline, as our goal is to be thoughtful in ensuring a fair contract is presented to the membership. As chief negotiator, I will continue communicating with the membership by providing periodic updates as we move toward contract negotiations. Watch for emails from the FA and always read your union newsletter, The WORD!