Fellow Faculty,

The FA Negotiations Team met with the District Negotiating Team on October 17th. Present for the FA were Danny Hamman, Julie Kiotas, Rob Lee, Roger Marheine, Rod Foster, Lynora Rogacs, Eduardo Cairo, and Paul Jarrell. The District Team consisted of Mark Rocha, Gail Cooper, and Bruce Barsook. President Rocha took the lead for the District. Danny Hamman and Julie Kiotas continued as lead for the FA.

Negotiations began with a continued discussion of the District’s counter proposal to the FA. The details of this offer are posted  as a Powerpoint on the Negotiations page . Much of the discussion centered on Salary and Benefits. The FA’s position is that this is a very regressive proposal, with many give-backs to the District that have been earned and protected by the FA over the years. In addition, in spite of statewide cuts PCC has had annual surpluses on average of $5M+ partially because we have adapted. For instance in spite of all the cuts academic salaries in 2008-09 represented 48.95% of the budget and in 2011-12 academic salaries represent 48.68% of the budget – a .27% cut ($5.5M less) and next year academic salaries are projected to decline another .16% (@ $1.5M less). Faculty compensation as a percentage of the budget has declined and continues to decline resulting in continuing surpluses.

Faculty compensation is not the “problem.” In terms of salary compensation (fulltime contract, fulltime overload and intersession, and adjunct hourly), the District’s offer results in a net decrease in pay for most faculty. While the District did offer a 3.5% salary increase, this increase is offset by the drastic cut in fulltime overload and intersession pay by the end of the contract.

As you can see by the graphany small gains due to salary increase are immediately lost by the end of the contract as soon as a faculty member teaches just one 3 hr. overload class per year. In fact, for fulltime faculty teaching at contract maximum overload and intersession levels the loss in salary could result in as much as a 25% reduction in total pay. The higher the Step and Column, the more drastic the cuts are.

All of this with a proposed 20% increase in class sizes across the board.

In their new proposal, the District proposes a two-tier benefits system with current employees receiving existing benefits, but hires after July 1, 2012 will have full benefits for employee only, not family.

There will continue to be no health care benefits for adjunct faculty.

Other Issues

• Elimination of all post employment benefits (i.e. no health care coverage if retire before 65 and elimination of $1,440 supplement for medicare after 65) for those that retire after June 30, 2020
• NCN increased across the board by 20%
• NCN for online courses set at 45
• Adopt 48 hr 3 unit classes instead of 54 hrs (Carnegie Hour allows from 48-54 hrs) Reduction in LGI Stipends
• Reduction In COLA application
• SERP: 55 yrs of age with 5 yrs of service

It is interesting to note that the content of the District’s new proposal has little to do with the original proposal sunshined by the District. In fact, we never even began to negotiate the District’s original proposal as no one (not even President Rocha) could explain the details of their original proposal.

This new proposal presented by the District includes MANY take-backs from faculty that were not even mentioned in their original proposal. Essentially, they are proposing more work (20% increase in NCN) for less compensation (meager raises, but drastic cuts to overload and intersession salaries) and less benefits for new hires and retirees. It must be noted that this new proposal is purely about economics, with no regard for pedagogy, college mission, and shared governance. At least the new proposal is consistent with recent actions of the District and Board of Trustees.

The FA has countered this proposal. We maintain that such drastic cuts in salary and benefits are not necessary. The district’s adopted budget is balanced and is based upon the CURRENT contract and the assumption that Proposition 30 does not pass. So, it is obvious that we can under worst-case scenarios, maintain current levels of compensation and benefits. In addition, if Proposition 30 passes, many classes could be restored to Spring and Summer sessions.

The basic tenets of the FA counter are as follows: 1. Two year contract with 2.5% salary increase per year 2. Compression of adjunct salary schedule to allow for parity to be reached more rapidly 3. Increase adjunct office hours to 8 hrs per semester for each class 4. Accept SERP as offered. Hire back rights for retirees with placement on Adjunct Salary Schedule 5. No changes to overload and intersession limits and salaries 6. Hour pay for hour work (no distinction between lecture and lab hours) 7. NCN determined by C and I committee to be honored 8. Formation of exploratory committee to investigate Carnegie Hour conversion

Both the District and the FA negotiations teams are currently modifying our proposals to try to reach some common ground. These negotiations are at times often contentious as it is clear the District (i.e. President Rocha) is trying to eliminate the role of Shared Governance and is trying to cleanse any sense of history at PCC.

Sincerely, FA Negotiating Team