Last Wednesday, your Federation bargaining team met with PCC’s administration team to continue negotiations. Their latest offer included:
- A 2% Cost of Living Allowance this year and next (up from 1.5%/yr)
- $125,000 for Faculty Department Chair pay adjustment (background here)
- $850,000 for professional development
- Codifying the part time faculty stipend rate in the contract (new)
- Removing the employee match requirement for 2 weeks of parental leave (new)
- Allowing APs and Classified employees to use the leave bank for up to 40 hours of caregiving for a family member (new)
Overall, the administration’s offer increased from $18.9 to $21.2 million of additional funding. And though we’re encouraged by the movement, it is still not enough to make up for the steady decline in PCC employee living standards over the last ten years—not even close. The two sides are still more than $20 million apart.
Across the country in recent years, educators have shown that direct action gets results in the face of austerity budgets. Since bargaining began, more than 200 FFAP and FCE members have attended bargaining sessions. A few weeks ago, 35 members showed up wearing union t-shirts at the PCC Board meeting. Your presence is making a difference! It’s time to turn up the pressure, to let administration know even more forcefully that quality education demands fair wages for ALL employees.
Please join your joint PCCFFAP–PCCFCE bargaining team for a UNION DAY OF ACTION this Thursday, October 24. Details are still being ironed out, but here is a rough outline of the plan:
- Informational picket at the Sylvania campus in the afternoon (we will also be organizing members from other campuses and centers to ride the shuttles to Sylvania)
- An information session and rally in the SY CC building prior to the PCC board meeting
- Pack the room at the PCC Board meeting!
The Federation’s Organizing Committee will be reaching out with more details shortly, so stay tuned!