Dear Faculty Colleagues,
Dear Faculty Colleagues,
I have some good news and some not so good news to report to you.
First, the good news.
1) Everyone’s annual bonus will be paid on time.
For contract faculty that means December 14th for most, and January 2nd for those that still receive their December pay in January. The bonus will be included with your regular contract pay warrant for December. To calculate your bonus, take your November base salary, multiply by 5 months (if you are a 10 month employee), and then multiply by 4.26%.
Example: Base salary = $5,000. Bonus = 5,000 X 5 X .0426 = $1,065.00.
(Eleven month employees multiply by 5.5 instead of 5, twelve month employees multiply by 6 instead of 5.)
For adjunct/overload faculty you will receive your bonus on February 10th. It will equal 4.26% times your earnings for the period July 1 – December 31.
Example: July 1 – December 31 earnings = $10,000. Bonus = 10,000 X .0426 = $426.00.
2) Step Z-2 (1.0% increase over Z-1) will be added to the top of classes 5 & 6 of the contract salary schedule as a result of last year’s Hay study effective January 1, 2008.
3) The number of assigned workweek hours for non-classroom faculty will be reduced from 34 to 33 effective January 1, 2008.
4) The caps on English 105 and 205 classes will be reduced to 25 throughout the District effective January 1, 2008.
5) We will be able to increase the ESU’s for head and assistant coaches and dance programs.
6) We will be able to increase the pool of funds available for the adjunct office hour program, in addition to allowing online instructors to participate in the program.
7) With the small amount of growth funds we are due to receive from the state, we will be able to augment the adjunct health benefits program.
Now, the not so good news.
After three months of trying to obtain cost-out data from the District, we still do not have the information needed to finalize our settlement.
In addition, the biggest issue preventing us from reaching a settlement is regarding the manner in which the District is costing out our salary proposals. Claiming that previous settlements have been “too generous,” District management is now attempting to overcharge us to make-up for what they view as the “bargains” we have received over the past several years. Without going into too much excruciating detail, instead of looking at salary costs at a moment in time as has been our practice since the inception of this District, we are now being told that the fiscal impact of any increase needs to be looked at six years into the future and that we need to pay for that six year cumulative cost all up front. In addition, as they calculate their six year projection, they assume that everyone moves up in step each year, but that no one leaves due to retirements or resignations, thus artificially inflating the upper end of the salary schedule and therefore the cost.
What happens next?
We are at impasse with the District with the office/technical unit over the same salary cost-out issue. We have declared formal impasse and the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has certified our impasse and is in the process of appointing a mediator from the State Mediation and Conciliation Service. The state appointed mediator will meet with the parties and attempt to reach a settlement on these outstanding items. After several of these mediation sessions, if we still have unresolvable issues, the state mediator has the power to send us to factfinding, which is a process where a neutral arbitrator will issue a ruling regarding what he/she believes the settlement should look like. Whatever the outcome is with the office/technical process will apply to the faculty process as well.
What does this mean to my pay?
Unfortunately, although we will indeed receive the bonus and the other items 2-7 listed above on time, whatever increase we were supposed to have in place on the salary schedule by January 1st, 2008, will be delayed until we come to agreement on the salary cost-out package. Whatever salary increase we do end up with will be retroactive to January 1, 2008.
I apologize for the lengthy email, but I wanted to provide you with as much information as possible.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions.
In Unity,
Jim