More than 60 of you have RSVP’d to our Union Day of Action this Thursday! Thanks to all of you who will picket, rally, and show up at the PCC Board of Directors meeting in support of a fair contract! If you haven’t RSVP’d, you can do so here. It is not required for participation but it does help us plan the logistics.
The Joint Federation bargaining team (PCCFFAP along with FCE) met with PCC administration on Tuesday, and progress continues to be frustratingly slow. Both sides are required by law to engage in good faith negotiations, so we have reduced the overall cost of our proposal by around $3 million, without sacrificing any of the broader goals outlined in our September 23 update. Similarly, Administration has increased their offer by $2.5 million. But we remain $20 million apart, and at this rate we will be negotiating for many months to come—during which members would be working under an expired contract without cost of living raise.
This is why yesterday both Federations and the PCC administration agreed to a short series of joint workgroup sessions outside of formal negotiations. Unlike formal bargaining sessions, these meetings will include a subset of the full bargaining teams and will be designed to brainstorm and game out different scenarios without the exchange of formal proposals. Nothing will be agreed to by either side—rather, different options will be developed and later presented to the entire bargaining team, along with observers. This is a common tactic used in bargaining and shows interest by both teams in moving things along. We plan on two workgroup sessions in the next week and a half, followed by a formal bargaining session in mid-November.
Rest assured that the Federation bargaining team is steadfastly committed to the bargaining platform and to securing a fair contract for all employees—one that makes up for years of stagnant wages. We view the workgroup as another opportunity to bring management closer to our point of view that meaningfully investing in employees is critical to the success of PCC and its students.
We’ll be in touch over the next few weeks with updates and ways for you to make your voices heard, but it may be a few weeks before you see bargaining update #18. Thank you for all your supportive messages and for hanging in there through this important negotiations process.