January 24, 2024
Last Friday was frustrating and exhausting.
PCC administration once again failed to produce a counterproposal on guaranteeing faculty and APs a voice in decision making (ie, shared governance). We asked when we could expect one, and they said “Not today.” We asked if they might have something for us next week, and they responded that shared governance is permissive, meaning legally, they don’t have to bargain over it. But there is nothing preventing them from bargaining over it, we reminded them. We also pointed out that shared governance is recommended by our accreditor and is also something President Bennings has committed to in her work plan. The language we proposed would cement that commitment in our contract—why would they be opposed to this? It’s almost as if shared governance is just another marketing gimmick, something they think is fit for a powerpoint presentation but not a collective bargaining agreement.
The admin team did give us a counterproposal on economics. It included an increase in COLA and health insurance for PT faculty, but decreased funding for other priorities (like a new top step for APs, contribution to the PT faculty health insurance trust fund,, step placement for CTE instructors, and FDC compensation, among other things) by $3 million. We did the math and realized their offer amounted to less than 1% increase in their total economic package. We let them know that this was not something our members would accept. We told them they need to get serious about both shared governance AND economics. Later in the day they increased their COLA offer, but it’s still not enough. If we can’t make progress this Friday, we are prepared to declare impasse. (See what that means in our timeline here.)
Money matters!
Faculty and APs are losing ground in the Portland economy. Every year that our COLAs don’t keep up with inflation, it gets harder to live here. Our members struggle to pay for housing, food, childcare, and medical care.
The state of Oregon has invested $800 Million in community colleges, $272 Million of which goes to PCC. The College also has revenue from student tuition and property taxes. PCC’s general fund operating budget for 2023-25 is $612 Million. We know they can afford more to support faculty and APs. How do we know this?
Admin has been on a manager hiring binge that has persisted even though student enrollment has significantly declined. PCC has 43% more managers than we had in 2013! That’s $20 million per year in added management compensation! We simply do not accept that when it comes to supporting faculty and APs they are suddenly out of money.
PCC Math Instructor Alex Jordan researched COLAs at neighboring institutions and compared them to the Consumer Price Index. PCC was the only metro area community college whose COLAs did not keep pace with CPI. Admin’s latest offer ensures that faculty and APs continue losing ground.
Image description: A line graph comparing the percentage growth in top step faculty and AP salary at metro area community colleges from 2013 to 2024. 2024 estimate includes Clark CC (59.9%), Clackamas CC (45.5%), and PCC (38.2% for APs and 37.5% for faculty) with the consumer price index at 47.1%.
You can see where things stand in our economic tracker here.