Bargaining Update – Jan. 16, 2014

Dear colleagues,

I write to you with an update on negotiations.  You might recall that the CCFF made three proposals:

·         Lecture-lab parity
·         Increase in part-time pay
·         COLA + (1.57% COLA plus 1.35% pay increase)

You’ll be heartened to know that the District recognizes the merit of according labs more than the 0.75 Lecture Hour Equivalent (LHE) – but only for some labs.  They have agreed with our proposal to create a Lab Parity Committee, which, by May 2014, should have established the protocol for submitting a lab course to the committee and the criteria by which the lab course will be evaluated.  Note, this proposal costs the District nothing this year.

Also heartening: the District agreed to add columns and a row for part-time faculty, part-time counselors, and part-time librarians.  This is good – a start.  However, the District proposed a troubling proviso:  that, in order to pay for the raise, part-time faculty are to give up their part-time equity funds, an annual state allocation intended to elevate part-time pay toward parity with full-time pay.  In effect, the District has agreed to add the columns and row, provided the part-time faculty pay for most of it.  The CCFF is disinclined to agree to have part-time faculty pay for their raise.  Note, because the raises would not take effect until fall 2014, this costs the District nothing this year.

Finally, the District has verbally agreed to pass through to the faculty the Cost of Living Adjustment that the state has funded.  However, we have yet to receive a response on the proposed 1.35% raise for faculty.  It is estimated that COLA + 1.35% will cost the District $550,000.  COLA itself – the 1.57% – represents 54% of the cost; the 1.35% is 46%.  46% of $550,000 is a little more than $254,000.  During the past 8 years, while the faculty have seen no pay raise and have lost 16% in purchasing power, the District has averaged a surplus of $3.6 million each year and has banked more than $33.8 million.  These numbers are not in dispute.  The District can afford our modest proposal.

Best,

Jack Swanson
CCFF Communications
Cerritos College