Tony Greeley
Los Angeles Community College’s faculty overwhelmingly approved a new contract, including a 5.23 percent pay raise for 2005.
The new contract was drawn up after nearly a year’s negotiations. An estimated 173 full-time teachers and 500 part-time teachers at Pierce will be impacted by the projected pay raise.
Carl Friedlander, president of Los Angeles Faculty Guild, Local 1521 of the American Federation of Teachers, said that “The average pay is now approximately $75 to $77,000 per year for full-time teachers,” based on experience and level of education. Under the new contract settlement, this average will increase.
In the handouts distributed to the faculty last week showing salary elements for 2004 to 2005, the pay range was, in round figures, $41,000 per year for teachers with minimum experience and education to $76,000 per year for teachers with the maximum experience and education. The new pay raise will bump that range up to $43,000 at the low end to $80,000 at the high end for 2005 to 2006.
Don Sparks, chief negotiator for the union and a professor of physics at Pierce, verifies those figures and adds that the top figure increases for teachers throughout the district when the instructor has a doctoral degree. When the doctoral differential and career increments are included, the top annual earning figure goes up to $93,600.
Sparks was not able to provide a figure for the average pay scale for community colleges statewide, but he did say that Pierce was “in the top half, for sure.”
According to Sheila Williams, professor of history, the ballots were due Monday.
She said. “The union has been at work on this contract since last October. Formal negotiations started in early spring.” Williams said that the new contract, extending from 2005 to 2008, will expire on June 30 during the final year.
Comparing LACCD’s Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) figures with those of the state of California, Williams said that the state gave LACCD a figure of 4.23 percent.
The 5.23 percent raise, “affects all levels in our district, including the chancellor and other administrators, full and part-time instructors, librarians, counselors and other non-classroom faculty. It includes any classified employees, such as secretaries, gardeners, maintenance and other general staff.”
According to Friedlander, “There are [other] districts with higher salaries than ours, but our benefits are greater.”
“Our compensation for the L.A. District, compared to others, is far superior. There are even pension benefits available for self and spouse, for life.” De Rubertis added that an employee with an underage child would also be covered by this provision.
Don Sparks represented the union and Sue Carleo, vice chancellor of the LACCD, spoke on behalf of the administration during the course of negotiations.
“There may be renegotiation on some fine points…during the life of the contract,” she explained.
During a faculty lunch on Sept.14, Friedlander clarified contractual issues, telling the faculty that the reason this new agreement was so successfully reached was not just due to good bargaining at the table, but more importantly due to political action as well.
“We negotiate a contract locally,” he said, “but budget is determined in Sacramento.”
“The idea that you can negotiate successfully at the local level alone is very short-sighted. Political action is the key.”