Negotiations between the Faculty Association and the District have finally reconvened for the Spring 2023 semester.  We returned to the bargaining table on February 2nd.  

Some good news!  During this latest round of Negotiations, the FA was pleased that the District finally proposed a Healthcare Plan for Part-Time Faculty.  We also saw some movement in the area of salary schedules as well other gains.

At this meeting, the DISTRICT countered with the following proposals:

• Article 4 Fringe Benefits.  
  • The District finally presented the FA with a proposal for healthcare for eligible part-time faculty.  
  • Their initial offer is a 70/30 model with the District contributing 70% and the eligible part-time faculty member contributing 30% of the plan premium for Kaiser single party HMO plan.  
  • Eligible faculty who choose to enroll in the above medical plan offered by the District would have the option of adding dependents at an additional cost.  
  • These same faculty would also have the option of purchasing a composite dental and/or vision plan.
  • Eligible part-time faculty who do not wish to enroll in the Kaiser HMO Plan offered would have the option of electing a composite dental and/or vision plan; the District would cover the composite dental and/or vision plan up to the cost of the District’s medical contribution.  
  • Eligibility would hinge on part-time faculty teaching a minimum of 40% of full-time faculty load at PCC.

• Article 12 Salary Schedules.  We were disappointed in the District’s most recent salary offer.
  • For the 2022-2023 academic year (retroactive to July 2022), the District offered
    • A 6% increase to the salary schedules for all part-time faculty, plus a one-time, off-schedule payment equivalent to 2% of the part-time faculty’s earnings in that year.
    • A 5.5% increase to the salary schedules of all full-time faculty, plus a one-time, off-schedule payment equivalent to 2% of base salary.  
  • For the 2023-2024 academic year, the District offered a 3% increase or the state-funded COLA, whichever is less, for all faculty.  
  • For the 2024-2025 academic year, the District proposed a “reopener” (reopening negotiations for Articles 4 and 12).  

• Article 5 Working Conditions.
  • The District offered a multi-tiered office hours model for part-time faculty, based upon the number of lecture hours taught by part-time faculty:
    • 3 up to 5 hours – 8 paid office hours
    • 5 up to 8 hours – 10 paid office hours
    • More than 8 hours – 12 paid office hours
  • The FA and the District have reached an agreement to maintain the current Flex procedures, including “Flexible Flex.”  Flexible Flex gives faculty the flexibility to tailor their annual Flex requirement to their specific learning needs – in-service workshops, academic conferences, etc.
  • However, the District continued to push back on decreasing the number of teaching hours for full-time non-credit faculty and giving non-instructional faculty the flexibility to work 4-day weekly schedules and to provide remote student-servicing.  

The FACULTY ASSOCIATION presented the following counter-proposals to the District:

• Article 4 Fringe Benefits.  The FA countered with a 80/20 model with the District contributing 80% and the eligible part-time faculty member contributing 20% of the plan premium for Kaiser single party HMO plan.  

• Article 12 Salary Schedules.  In response to the District’s proposal, the FA countered with the following:
  • For the 2022-2023 academic year (retroactive to July 2022), the FA counter-proposed
    • A 8% increase to the salary schedules for all part-time faculty plus a one-time, off-schedule payment equivalent to 4% of the part-time faculty’s earnings in that year.
    • A 8% increase to the salary schedules for all full-time faculty plus a one-time, off-schedule payment equivalent to 4% of base salary 
  • For the 2023-2024 academic year, the FA proposed
    • An increase of 3% or the state-funded COLA, whichever is greater plus a 5% parity adjustment for part-time faculty.  
    • An increase of 3% or the state-funded COLA, whichever is greater, for full-time faculty.  
• For the 2024-2025 academic year, the FA proposed
  • An increase of 2.5% or the state-funded COLA, whichever is greater plus a 5% parity adjustment for part-time faculty.  
  • An increase of 2.5% or the state-funded COLA, whichever is greater, for full-time faculty.  

• Article 5 Working Conditions.  The FA again countered with language that would give non-instructional faculty the flexibility to work 4-day weekly schedules and to provide student-servicing remotely.

• Article 18 Part-Time Faculty Reemployment Priority Rights.  The FA proposed language to clarify the process of assigning classes to part-time faculty who have earned Priority Rights.

STATUS OF OTHER PROPOSALS:

• Article 16 Athletic Coaches.  The District indicated that it would have a response to the FA’s most recent Article 16 proposal at the next Negotiations meeting. 
• FA Retirement Incentive Proposal.  This proposal was rejected by the District.  
• Article 6 Sick Leave and Health Examinations (Parental Leave).  This proposal is currently in the “parking lot” (The FA and the District have not agreed upon Article 6 but will revisit it to see if we can come to an agreement).

Link to PCC’s bargaining unit webpage where you can view all of the proposals:  https://pasadena.edu/hr/union-contracts.php

Although the FA is pleased with the above gains, we recognize that we still need to push to improve the terms of the Healthcare for part-time faculty and of the salary increases offered by the District.  We are scheduled to meet again next Thursday, February 9th.  The FA will continue to demand the healthcare coverage, compensation, and working conditions that all PCC faculty deserve. 

Sincerely,

The PCC Faculty Association Negotiations Team