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KIRTLAND, Ohio – October 12, 2023 – After months of negotiations that included federal mediation and a unanimous strike authorization vote, the Lakeland Faculty Association (LFA) reached a tentative bargaining agreement with Lakeland Community College late Tuesday evening following a marathon 11-hour mediated fact-finding session.  The LFA met yesterday and voted to ratify the 3-year deal.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that will help to ensure that Lakeland continues to attract and retain the best and brightest faculty, which is essential to our mission of providing a high-quality education,” said Tobin F. Terry, president of the LFA.

Highlights of the new agreement include:

• increased ability to adapt to changing student needs
• additional support for nursing students and faculty in clinical settings
• a permanent Safety Committee to protect the well-being of students, staff, and faculty
• job security to attract and retain first-rate faculty at Lakeland, benefitting the larger community

The ball now lies in the Lakeland Board of Trustees’ court, who must also ratify the agreement for it to take effect, thereby bringing a formal end to the bargaining process.  The Board is scheduled to vote this evening.

“The faculty will be glad to finally put these unnecessarily protracted negotiations behind us,” said LFA Spokesperson Lynne Gabriel. “We want to put our full focus on what we do best: working with our colleagues at the college to educate, encourage, and elevate the students of Lakeland and the citizens of our community.”

The more than 120 educators represented by the Lakeland Faculty Association have been working without a contract since August 16.  The LFA’s mission is to maintain and enrich the quality of education at Lakeland College and to promote the professional interests of the faculty of Lakeland through collective action and other appropriate means. The LFA is a proud affiliate of the Ohio Education Association and the National Education Association.

KIRTLAND, Ohio – September 22, 2023 – The Lakeland Faculty Association (LFA) voted unanimously last night to authorize their bargaining team to issue a 10-day strike notice. The vote comes after failed mediation and the initiation of statutory Fact-Finding with Lakeland Community College.

LFA President Tobin F. Terry, a member of the LFA bargaining team, outlined the union’s goals.  “We’re fighting for the tools and the capacity to provide students the best chance at success in our modern society.  This means providing faculty the opportunity to give more individualized attention in clinicals and recognizing the time and effort needed for those same faculty to find and hire quality clinical instructors to teach our nursing students.  We’re fighting to retain and recruit the best educators by creating a workplace that acknowledges professionalism and provides job security, competitive wages, and affordable quality benefits because when faculty leave Lakeland for better working environments, it hurts students and our whole community.”  The LFA’s platform also includes increased campus safety and security to protect the well-being of its members and their students. To date, the College has rejected the LFA’s proposal.  “Clearly, the College’s top decision-makers have lost touch with this community’s values,” said Terry.

At the meeting, members also discussed that the LFA has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against College President Morris Beverage for an attempt to intimidate Terry at a recent campus event.  “While we continue to work for a fair contract, the administration has unfortunately resorted to bully tactics in a misguided attempt to silence us,” said Terry. “We filed an unfair labor practice complaint to hold President Beverage accountable for his unacceptable conduct.”

“The vote tonight is a vote of confidence in our bargaining team and our fight for the student-focused, high-quality education our faculty provide each day,” said Lynne Gabriel, LFA spokesperson.  She continued, “Of course we don’t want to strike, but our students, faculty and community deserve a contract that invests in classroom priorities and fosters a supportive learning environment.”  

The LFA’s collective bargaining agreement with the College expired on August 15.  The LFA can file the Notice of Intent to Strike or Picket with the State Employment Relations Board any time after the Fact-Finding process has concluded.

The Lakeland Faculty Association is the union representing more than 120 educators employed by Lakeland Community College. The LFA’s mission is to maintain and enrich the quality of education at Lakeland College and to promote the professional interests of the faculty of Lakeland through collective action and other appropriate means. The LFA is a proud affiliate of the Ohio Education Association and the National Education Association.

KIRTLAND, Ohio – August 14, 2023 – The Lakeland Faculty Association (LFA) has requested a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to facilitate on-going negotiations with Lakeland Community College.

This request comes after approximately 100 hours of bargaining throughout the summer with little progress made and a looming contract expiration date of August 15. The college’s team has been unwilling to move on or even talk about many provisions in the comprehensive counter proposals offered by the LFA.

“Requesting a mediator is not a decision that our team made lightly,” explains LFA President Tobin F. Terry, “but we agreed that it was necessary.” Terry is one of nine members of the faculty’s bargaining team.

“Faculty are scheduled to return to campus on August 21, and classes begin the following week,” explains LFA Spokesperson Lynne Gabriel. “We want this contract resolved as soon as possible so that we have the stability we need to focus on what really matters: supporting the educational needs of the Lakeland community with high-quality and student-focused instruction.”

Mediation can be requested by either bargaining team at any point after full initial proposals have been exchanged. FMCS will assign a federal mediator to assist both parties in an attempt to reach a resolution as quickly as possible. For more information about federal mediation, visit www.fmcs.gov.

The LFA is holding a clap-in at 9:30 Tuesday morning in the Holden University Center parking lot to show support for their team on the last day of bargaining before the contract expires.

The Lakeland Faculty Association is the union representing 120 educators employed by Lakeland Community College. The LFA’s mission is to maintain and enrich the quality of education at Lakeland College and to promote the professional interests of the faculty of Lakeland through collective action and other appropriate means. The LFA is a proud affiliate of the Ohio Education Association and the National Education Association.

KIRTLAND, Ohio – June 1, 2023 – The Lakeland Faculty Association (LFA) has selected Lynne Gabriel to serve as its media spokesperson during its on-going negotiations with Lakeland Community College.  The parties’ collective bargaining agreement expires on August 15, 2023.

Gabriel is a Professor of Psychology, who will begin her twentieth year at Lakeland in the fall. She said, “I have devoted the last two decades of my life to working with students, who have the right to a high-quality learning environment focused on supporting their needs. In addition to teaching, I have served in several roles connected to Lakeland’s strategic planning and accreditation processes. I am now honored to serve the faculty as we fight for a student-focused, high-quality education in the supportive learning environment the Lakeland community deserves.” Gabriel was President of the LFA during the previous contract negotiation in 2020.

Gabriel can be reached via email at LFAmediaServices@gmail.com.

For the latest information, like the LFA page on Facebook at LakelandFacultyAssociation, follow us on Instagram at @lakelandfacultyassociation, and visit our website at www.lfa.ohea.us. Or, keep up with the conversation on social media with #LFAstrongerTogether.