AFT 1493 E-News – August 18, 2006
Dear
Colleagues,
We are
happy to report that after one full year and over 50 hours of bargaining, we
have reached a tentative agreement with the District, which has been approved
by the AFT Executive Committee. You will be able to access the full agreement, described below, at the
AFT website, aft1493.org,
next week. The AFT Executive Committee
feels that this is an excellent contract for all faculty.
We will
hold faculty forums on all three campuses over the next two weeks to discuss
the settlement, and we will hold a ratification vote on each campus as soon as
possible following the forums. Kathy Blackwood, District Chief Financial
Officer, has assured us that the salary increase and retro checks will go into
effect as soon as possible after the contract is ratified. Once we have
more specific information from the District, we will let you know.
AFT CONTRACT SETTLEMENT
Term: Four years, effective July 1,
2005 through June 30, 2009
Wages: For 2005-06: retroactive
salary increase of 3.23%. (We negotiated the equivalent of an
additional 1% to increase the medical cap and pay for part-time office hours.)
For 2006-07: salary increase of 4.92%. (Again, we
negotiated the equivalent of an additional 1% to increase the medical cap and
pay for part-time office hours.)
For
2007-08: salary
increase based on the state COLA. The increase will be equal to the state
COLA minus 1%. (We negotiated this 1% to
increase the medical cap and to pay for part-time office hours and the
adjustment to the salary schedule.)
At this point, the COLA for 2007-08 is projected to be 4.7%, but the
State’s projections tend to be conservative this far in advance, so it is
likely that the actual COLA will be above 5%. Full-time faculty on steps
14 through 23 will receive an additional 0.92% salary increase. When we
compared our salary schedule with those of other districts in the Bay Area, we
found that we rank lower on these steps than we do on the initial steps.
This additional increase will help make our salary schedule more competitive.
For 2008-09: salary increase based on the state COLA. The
increase will be equal to the state COLA minus 0.5%. (We negotiated this
0.5% to increase the medical cap.)
Full Time Benefits:
Effective January 1, 2006, the District will increase the cap for health
benefits as follows: $604 for singles, $739 for two-party and $973 for
family, three or more. Each year, effective January 1, 2007, 2008 and
2009, the District will increase the medical cap for Kaiser subscribers’
two-party and Family plans so that the employee out-of-pocket contributions
will not exceed $40 per month. For non-Kaiser two-party and Family plans,
the District will contribute the same dollar amount established by the Kaiser
plan. This should maintain the out-of-pocket contributions for all
two-party and family plans at about the same level for the four years of the
contract. The cap for single employees will remain at $604 per month for
the duration of this contract.
Note: No matter how high medical
benefits go up during the period of the contract, the District must maintain
this cap.
Part
Time Benefits:
Effective
January 1, 2007, the District will increase the medical stipend for part-time
faculty to $500 per six-month period if the State funding for part-time medical
coverage fully covers the cost. Effective January 1, 2008, the the
part-time stipend will increase to $550 per six-month period if State funding
covers the cost.
Part Time Office Hours:
The
District has agreed to pay part-time instructors for one office hour per week
for every three units of teaching, pro-rated if less than three units are
taught per semester. For 2006-07, part-time instructors will be paid for
office hours at 82.6% of the Special Rate and for 2007-08 and after, they will
be paid at 100% of the Special Rate. Office hours will appear as a
separate line item on monthly paychecks. More details on the specifics of how
part-time office hours was worked out contractually will be available on the
AFT website next week.
Note:
This is a major victory for the union. Our part-time instructors will
finally receive direct payment for their time spent helping students during
office hours. For part-timers, this represents an increase of roughly an
additional 10% on the 2006-07 salary schedule and about 14% when fully
implemented in ‘07-‘08. It was agreed during bargaining that office hours
may be interpreted as email consultations and meetings with students in
locations other than an “office” since many part-timers don’t have regular use
of office space.
Re-Openers:
For the 2007, 2008 and 2009 contract years, each party can
re-open up to three non-economic items in any article excluding Articles 8
& 9.
Again, the
negotiating team worked hard and long hours throughout the year and over the
summer to reach this tentative agreement with the District. The Executive
Committee of our union feels enthusiastic about our gains in this agreement,
and we are looking forward to talking with all of you about your questions and
comments about it in the coming weeks. Please direct any comments or questions
you may have to Dan Kaplan at the AFT office (x6491). As always, it is an
honor to serve our faculty.
In Unity,
Ernie
Rodriguez, AFT Local 1493 President
Joaquin
Rivera, AFT Local 1493 Chief Negotiator
Katharine
Harer, AFT Local 1493 Negotiating Team member
Victoria Clinton, AFT Local 1493 Negotiating Team member