MCCC faculty could be seen wearing blue shirts, blue jeans, and red buttons adorning the words “Value MCCC Staff” at President Dr. Kojo A. Quartey’s State of the College Address Thursday morning.
The buttons are part of the staff’s effort to bring awareness to ongoing negotiations between college faculty and administration regarding a new contract.
“We’re in the process of negotiating a contract, the Master Agreement.” said Mark Bergmooser, president of the MCCC Faculty Association, upon being asked why the faculty were all wearing the buttons.
“We actually don’t have a contract right now at all,” said Melissa Grey, professor of Psychology at MCCC. “We’re still working with the old one.”
Dr. Kojo A. Quartey did not mention the faculty’s apparel during his speech.
“The administration and the faculty are in negotiation,” Quartey said. “And they are displeased with the way the negotiations are going.”
“But the college business is ongoing.” he said. “We’re going to continue to teach, we’ll continue to do all this stuff, we’ll continue to do what we’ve got to do as a college to serve the student. That’s why we’re here. Everything we do is about students.”
Approximately 38 people attended the event, a majority being administration and faculty.