Voices from the Bargaining Table: David Pieper on Yesterday’s Session
I am a faculty member in the Social Sciences Department who is also a member of our AFT Bargaining Team. We had a session on Monday (10/16), and I wanted to share my perspective on the state of negotiations.
I have been associated with CCSF for nearly a quarter of a century, first as a student, and as a faculty member since 2009 part-time and then full-time. From this experience, I am deeply familiar with our vital mission to serve students, as well as the challenges faced by both part-time and full-time faculty.
What happened at Monday’s session?
The college’s budget was the main topic of discussion. This is critical because we all know that our faculty are not paid competitively and the district needs to find ways to increase salaries while maintaining a balanced budget. Instead of negotiating a fair contract with AFT, Chancellor David Martin and the district choose to spend their money on other things.
Your union is determined to help the district find ways to rearrange priorities to allow for competitive salaries, something that is essential for retaining and attracting the quality faculty who make City College programs run.
We need to understand how the budget numbers are developed and spending is prioritized. AFT has been asking the same questions for many months, so the district should have been prepared. Instead, they sent a newly hired finance person who was not involved in developing the budget and was therefore unable to answer many questions. On the bright side, he did treat our union team respectfully and he promised to get us answers by the end of the week. But even though the bargaining dates were chosen by the district, they were not able to send a representative who was prepared to answer questions today, and they could not commit that any representative from finance would be able to attend next week’s scheduled bargaining session. This is still sadly the definition of bad faith bargaining.
We did learn some useful things. The district has not included the new state reimbursement for part-time faculty health care in the budget because they are waiting for exact actual numbers. They seem not to understand that budgets are always projected estimates, and you can’t wait for exact actuals before creating a budget. In addition, they are including full salaries and benefits for open positions that the district has no intention or process in place to fill any time soon. Both of these facts mean that the district has more money available to increase faculty salaries than they claim.
We also saw some incremental movement in other areas. The district made a counter proposal on class size that brought our positions slightly closer together. AFT made counter proposals on leaves and compensation that are designed to be more acceptable to the district. No tentative agreements were reached at Monday’s meeting, however.
What can you do for a higher salary and a fair contract?
If you feel that you deserve higher pay, join your fellow union members at the October 26th Board of Trustees meeting to demand that CCSF faculty be paid competitively and receive retroactive pay for the unneeded concessions made in earlier years. Our students’ success depends on highly qualified and motivated faculty who can afford to live in our expensive region. RSVP for Oct 26 here: https://bit.ly/Oct26MUB
The Details:
Date: Thursday, October 26th
Time: 5 pm
Location: In front of East entrance of MUB building, Ocean Campus
Note: Faculty can plan to attend the Board meeting or join other faculty outside of the building
–David
General Membership Meeting In Person Today Tues. 3:30-5PM Wellness Center, Room 103
Come find out what is happening in bargaining for our next contract from members of your Bargaining Team and get ready for your October 26 Rally for a Fair Contract. Enough is enough–it’s time to take action for the fair contract we deserve. All members are encouraged to attend!
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