President’s Update
By Mary Gross, FA President
Your FA leadership has been hard at work over the summer and early fall to prepare for the full Contract Negotiations beginning later this semester. We had several meetings over the summer that focused on researching key areas we expect to negotiate: Salary/Compensation, Workload/Reassigned Time, and Evaluation. Many Council members worked alongside Exec to research the information that will best position us as we move to the bargaining table.
Exec, with input from the full FA Council, also developed a comprehensive Negotiation Survey that was completed by over a hundred of your colleagues. Not surprisingly, Salary/Compensation was the number one priority for us to make gains. The research conducted over the summer along with additional analysis and insights from our new BPC Chair Kent McCorkle assisted in the development of a research/position paper on this topic that was presented to the District Lead Negotiator Charlie Ng and the Board of Trustees for their information and consideration as they discuss their positions.
The Survey is also assisting with other priorities we have as an FA. Workload, Evaluation, Reassigned Time, Department Chairs/CTE, and Professional Development/Travel rose to the top as important issues. The District also has interest in these same areas and Sunshined these CBA Articles to address in the upcoming negotiations. It is doubtful we will have the same positions on what we hope to advance, but the FA has been accurate in its assumptions about the District’s priorities, and certainly this has confirmed that.
The full-time faculty also prioritized preserving and protecting our Fringe Benefits package, a faculty-led evaluation process, parental/family leaves, banking/unbanking, and sabbatical leaves. The written feedback was impactful and will be useful in assuring our positions are well articulated.
The negotiating team will construct the official sunshine list that will first be shared with FA Council and then presented to the Board of Trustees at their October meeting. We are then scheduled to have our first meeting with the District in October and commence weekly negotiation meetings beginning in November. While the content and discussions of these sessions are confidential, we will keep the faculty updated as we reach any tentative agreements on issues over the next few months.
Please mark your calendars for the Fall Education Luncheon on Friday, November 8, 12-2, where we will provide more details and insights of the District and FA’s Sunshine lists as well as have a presentation/workshop facilitated by the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) Leadership. We look forward to seeing you there!
Mary Gross
FA President
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