CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Bargaining in last stretch:
Pay, benefits, new MOU

As we reported in the last issue of The Advocate, the AFT and district bargaining teams are currently negotiating over the last item before the contract can be settled: faculty compensation and benefits, including part-time parity. A new MOU on Covid conditions is also on the table. The two teams were not able to schedule any negotiations sessions over the last month, but the next session is set for December 8, and three negotiation sessions are scheduled for finals week. To review, the district’s most recent counter-proposal on compensation maintained the current Total Compensation Formula (in which 80% of all newly assessed property tax revenue is divided among employee groups, and each group is responsible for deciding how to allocate their funds to compensation and benefits). In addition to the funds from the Formula, the District also made a one-time offer towards part-time salaries.

AFT is proposing a parity goal of 85% and a series of concrete, timely steps to achieve it

Because our part-time faculty salaries are currently in the bottom half of Bay 10 community college districts (click here to view a comparison of part-time salaries in all Bay 10 districts), AFT presented a counter-proposal asking the District for a greater commitment to part-time parity. The union is proposing that the District agree to a parity goal of 85% and a series of concrete, timely steps to achieve it. An essential step to achieving part-time parity is moving the part-time faculty instructional salary schedule to a load-based (rather hourly-based), “mirrored” schedule that includes the same steps (based on years of experience) and columns (based on educational levels) as the full-time salary schedule, but with the rates for every step and column set at an agreed-upon percentage of the full-time rate, referred to as the “parity percentage.” All of our neighboring community college districts (including West Valley/Mission, San Jose/Evergreen, Marin, CCSF, and Foothill/DeAnza) have this type of load-based, mirrored salary schedule for their part-time faculty and all pay a set pro-rata “parity percentage” of full-time salaries for equivalent experience and education.
For the 2021-2022 school year, AFT is proposing that the parity percentage be set at 80% so that each part-timer would be paid 80% of the salary paid to a full-timer with the same education and experience teaching the same number of units. The District would be expected to increase adjunct salaries to achieve the parity goal of 85% over two academic years.

As the AFT has been communicating the details and rationale for this proposal to our part-time faculty members, we have received numerous questions from our members about how it would work and how it would actually affect their own income. At this Wednesday’s AFT membership meeting (December 9th, from 2:30 to 5 p.m.) we’ll explain what a mirrored schedule is, how 85% parity would significantly increase pay for part-time instructors at all levels of education and experience, and what we’re doing to win these crucial improvements for part-timers now. All members are invited to ask questions and hear more about our proposals for part-time pay. The discussion of our proposals for part-timers will take place in the first hour of the meeting, after an update on our contract negotiations.