Negotiations Update

As we approach the end of the semester, we are in the final phase of our contract negotiations with the district. The process began last semester with solicitations on the part of the Faculty Assembly to identify working conditions issues faculty believed needed to be addressed of Almost 30 such issues were compiled, reviewed, prioritized and approved by the FA Council late last semester. This list of issues, along with the list the district generated were subsequently “sun-shined” by publication in a Board agenda.

Early this semester, Jonathan Cole, our chief negotiator, began working with Haley Schwarzkopf, the district’s Director of Labor Relations and Title IX Coordinator, to complete clean-up language on issues of mutual agreement in our current contract. Beginning in early February, the FA Negotiations Team comprised of Jonathan Cole, Brad Byrom, Scott Fallstrom, dara and myself began meeting every other week with the district’s team that includes chief negotiator Charlie Ng, Diane Dieckmeyer, Hayley Schwartzkopf, Al Taccone, Freddy Ramirez and Jonathan Foreman. The list of negotiated items from both the FA and the district were matched with their respective sections of our current contract, and each side then offered proposals and counter-proposals (and more counter-proposals), continuing in earnest throughout the subsequent two months of meetings.

At this point, we believe we are very close to reaching final agreement on the proposals, along with the updated contract language. We are hopeful that faculty will be able to review the new contract language and the mutually agreed-upon changes to our contract by mid-May. Information session dates/times are forthcoming, so check your email. Once reviewed, the FA will conduct a vote of the full faculty on the revised agreement. If the new agreement is approved, it will be forwarded to our Board of Trustees for final approval and implementation.