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Cerritos College Faculty Senate Passes Resolution Supporting Fair Compensation; Parity for Part-Timers

Norwalk, CA – October 23, 2018 — On Tuesday, October 23, the Cerritos College Faculty Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting student success by providing high-quality academic programs and student services, such as counseling.

The Senate called on the college’s president and Board of Trustees to provide faculty with fair and competitive wages, to pay part-time faculty to hold the same number of office hours as full-time faculty, and to provide part-time faculty a place to hold those office hours.

Under the new funding formula for community colleges, Cerritos College will receive at least 14% more money than last year.  The campus’ proposed budget for the current fiscal year projects over $5 million in surplus monies.  Part of that projected surplus is a 2.71% cost of living adjustment (COLA) from the state.   So far the college has refused to pass that through to any of the faculty or staff working at the college.  This COLA only partially covers the cost of inflation in Los Angeles County, where, according to the Consumer Price Index,  prices have increased 3.9% in the last year and housing costs alone have increased 5.3%.  So even with the COLA, faculty and staff working at the college will lose purchasing power unless they receive an additional raise.

“We need COLA plus in order to keep our standard of living. But if we want to really improve working and learning at the college we should use the next three years under the new funding formula to make significant changes,” says Stephanie Rosenblatt, CCFF President.  “We need to use the additional revenue to start fixing the structural inequities that impact part-time faculty. They have the same education we do and when they are working with students they are doing the exact same work.  We should take this opportunity to figure out how to start providing them access to healthcare and we need to figure out how we can work towards parity or equal pay for equal work.”

Local legislators, such as Ian Calderon, Majority Leader and Assemblymember representing the 57th District, agree.  Mr. Calderon sent a member of his staff to the last Board of Trustees Meeting on October 17 in order to support the faculty’s request for a fair wage.

The Cerritos College Faculty Senate also wants to ensure that the work rules for faculty — and how faculty are disciplined —are finally written down.

Cerritos College Faculty have been represented by a union for 15 years but still do not have a comprehensive and complete contract.

 

 

Resolution in Support of CCFF Negotiation Efforts

Whereasthe Cerritos College mission statement affirms its commitment to provide students with high quality, comprehensive instructional programs and support services that improve student success and offer clear pathways to achieve personal, educational, and career goals; and

 Whereas student engagement is central to student success and student empowerment; and

WhereasCerritos College currently and historically enjoys strong reserves and healthy budget surpluses; and

Whereas Cerritos College received a 2.71% cost of living adjustment for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which the District chose not to pass along to faculty or staff despite an already projected 5.7 million dollar surplus; and

Whereas Cerritos College is expected to hire an addition 27 full-time faculty positions to meet its FON requirement; and

Whereas the lack of competitive wages has led to high turnover rates of part-time faculty which has had a detrimental impact on many programs necessary for student success; and

Whereasthe District-backed iFALCON Habits of Mind program rightfully reinforces and encourages the idea of greater contact between students and faculty while the District also limits its support for part-time faculty to hold adequate office hours deemed necessary for student success; and

Whereasit is imperative to the education of our students that outstanding faculty be attracted to apply for future employment and/or continue to remain at Cerritos College; and

Whereasa fully comprehensive and fair contract indicative of what California community college faculty throughout the state have enjoyed for decades would allow for a more vibrant and productive work environment here at Cerritos College;

Therefore be it Resolved, that the Faculty Senate of Cerritos College declares its support for the current negotiation efforts of the Cerritos College Faculty Federation in order to retain and attract the best qualified faculty applicants including:

  1. competitive compensation and benefits for all Cerritos College faculty;
  2. fair and equitable compensation for all faculty to hold office hours and a dedicated space in which to hold them;
  3. an Assignment Article in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that would describe what their job entails; and
  4. a Just Cause Article in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that would specify under what circumstances and the process by which faculty can be disciplined.

Be it Finally Resolved, that the Faculty Senate send a copy of this resolution to the Cerritos College Board of Trustees, the President/Superintendent of the Cerritos Community College District, and the Cerritos College Faculty Federation.