Union Goal-100% Adjunct Parity

Amazing Agreement Reached: On the Road to Pro Rata Pay for Adjunct Faculty

After years of negotiations, lobbying the Board and lots of creative proposals and counterproposals, the Union and District finally agreed at the bargaining table to establish a pro rata salary schedule for our adjunct faculty and full time faculty working overload. During last year’s negotiations, we reached agreement in concept, but figuring what pro rata percentage would fit within our financing limitations remained an arduous task.

The Union and District had agreed to put aside over $778,000 to fund a new adjunct pro rata salary schedule that would mirror the full time salary schedule. Why? Because the negotiations team knew the importance of this to our adjunct faculty. We understood the need to show respect, fight for equity, and continue to professionalize the role that adjunct play in our District. Gaining parity for adjunct is always front and center for the FA, AFT 6157. This pro rata adjunct salary schedule offered the only way to get us on the road to equal pay for equal work.

However, this agreement was not reached without a huge amount of effort and compromise. After we placed all adjunct faculty on a pro rata salary schedule, and then included all full time faculty working overload and summer and intersession, the potential cost exceeded the agreed upon amount. We impressed on the District that this commitment to the pro rata salary schedule for adjunct was so much a part of the “new” integrity and social consciousness of this District. So we agreed to the following language:

It is understood that in order to implement these pro rata percentages, the District agrees to cover the additional approximate cost of $158,000 dollars. In exchange, the Union and District understand that the $158,000 may be considered during 2007-2008 contract negotiations.

It is the Union’s goal that with the District’s 12% reserve coming into this 2006-07 academic year, and the District’s history of healthy reserves, that we make sure the District knows it can cover this very small amount without cost to our overall wage package.

With the implementation of this new salary schedule, there are many folks to thank: first and foremost your FA, AFT 6157 negotiations team: Mark Newton, Debbie DeLaRosa, Jory Segal and Frank Espinoza and Barbara Hanfling; next, kudos to the mastermind of the pro rata charts: Jesse Votaw, previous FA, AFT 6157 adjunct negotiator, current SJCC adjunct Real Estate instructor; our folks in Academic Services/Support/Payroll: Pat Short, Lauren McKee and Vilya McKee; and also the District negotiations team for making this agreement come to fruition.

On page 4 is an excerpt from the joint letter that went out to all adjunct faculty in mid August. We have reprinted this with the understanding that full time faculty are also strongly affected by this new salary schedule as they too will be receiving increases of generally more than 5%.