Western New Mexico University settles dispute over who may be in new faculty union

A nascent faculty union at Western New Mexico University overcame a procedural hurdle in seeking recognition of its collective bargaining unit after settling objections by the administration over the unit’s composition last week.

The WNMU Faculty NEA is an affiliate of the National Education Association, the largest union representing educators nationwide. More than two-thirds of the Silver City faculty and librarians reportedly signed cards endorsing union representation on May 13, exceeding the 50% threshold for mandatory recognition of the union.

On Wednesday, WNMU-NEA organizers reported that the administration had raised three objections to the composition of the bargaining unit: The inclusion of librarians and applied technology faculty, as well as the exclusion of former WNMU president Joseph Shepard, who remained as a faculty member under the terms of a controversial separation agreement until regents effectively voided his contract on July 31.

It was in the aftermath of Shepard’s departure last December that the local union took shape, following a “tumultuous semester” as multiple state investigations, lawmakers and litigation probed lavish spending of taxpayer funds on luxury business travel and furnishings for the president’s residence — spending Shepard defended as legitimate university expenses.

After Shepard announced his resignation in December, the Board of Regents approved a $1.9 million severance payment as well as a remote faculty position paying $200,000 annually.

On July 31, newly-appointed regents unanimously declared that their predecessors violated New Mexico’s open meetings law when they approved the agreement, rendering it invalid. They then voted to reject the agreement, essentially ending Shepard’s faculty appointment. The status of his scheduled course load in WNMU’s business school is not clear.

Shepard called the regents’ action a “highly orchestrated political smear campaign to damage and destroy my reputation, career, and livelihood.”

The university did not provide a rationale for its objections when approached by the Journal. Chris Maples, the interim president who started on the job last week, said he saw nothing objectionable about including librarians or instructors in the department of applied technology — which grants certifications in construction, welding and electrical technology.

As for Shepard’s inclusion, Maples said the regents’ July 31 action appeared to render the question moot, but said that if Shepard were a faculty member “he would have every right to be part of the bargaining unit.”

“Shepard’s appointment as a faculty member did not align with the promotion, tenure, or workplace conditions of any faculty member and was therefore incongruent with our unit’s community of interest,” history professor Andrew Hernández, one of the union organizers, told the Journal.

The dispute over who gets to be in the new union was set for debate at a hearing before the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board on Friday, but the conflicts were settled July 31, organizers said.

“While we would have preferred to have avoided the investment of our time in preparation for the hearing and the university’s expenditure on legal counsel to object to our assessment of the unit’s composition, this is an important step forward,” Hernández stated in a news release. “We look forward to starting the collective bargaining process as legal equals and working with our new Board of Regents and interim president in restoring stability and trust in our university.”

Under New Mexico law, signatures from at least 30% of public employees who would be represented in the bargaining unit are required to initiate an election, and 40% of them must vote up or down in the election for it to be valid. However, if a majority of those employees sign valid authorization cards, the bargaining unit is certified automatically. The employer has the right to challenge the verification in a hearing before the PELRB.

If verified, WNMU would be the sixth higher education institution in the state to see its faculty organize, following the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque; New Mexico State University, with its main campus in Las Cruces; New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas; and San Juan College in Farmington. Graduate student workers at UNM and NMSU have also unionized.

For his part, Maples, who will lead the university until a permanent successor is named, said he looked forward to working with faculty and students alike moving into the new school year, with classes beginning Aug. 18.

“This is a wonderful university and serves such a remarkable student body,” Maples said. “Students bring an energy and electricity and excitement to a campus that you just don’t get other places in the world.”