In our most recent bargaining update, we promised you an updated proposal from the College and a subsequent poll. We have not yet received that updated proposal, but Shane Turner, the HR representative who is leading the administration bargaining team, has promised it in the next day or two. We will write another update and share that proposal with you when we receive it.
Between the last bargaining session and this one, Shane sent an informal proposal (known as a “supposal”) to the union team. He suggested that instead of offering steps and a COLA, all the money they budgeted could be spent just on COLAs. This would increase the COLA amount to 5% each year. The team rejected this idea because the members have made it clear that it is important to get both COLAs and step increases.
At a previous bargaining session, the administration team mentioned they had an additional $200,000 to $300,000 that could be added to the total value of their initial proposal. In today’s session, they asked if LCCEF would be open to having that money go toward hazard pay, in the form of a stipend for those who worked on campus during the pandemic.
While we believe those workers are deserving of recognition for working in-person, this is contract bargaining, and the LCCEF bargaining team must get as much compensation increase for as many workers as possible. Hazard pay would only benefit about 25% of the bargaining unit and would be a one-time, non-compounding stipend, which wouldn’t increase the pay rate for those employees, so we did not think that was an equitable way to distribute the money. We would prefer the College investigate whether it is possible to use alternate funding sources, such as the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (which is authorized by the American Rescue Plan), to compensate these employees who worked on campus during the height of the pandemic in the 2020-21 academic year.
Shane went on to explain the enrollment situation at LCC, stating that enrollment is currently down 10% compared to the same time last year. The LCC budget was drawn up with an assumption that enrollment would only drop 2%. According to him, every enrollment drop of 1% is equivalent to a budget loss of about $250,000.
Plus One Clarification
During the session, the administration team requested clarification on our Plus One item (below) specific to the following language related to classified staff “providing university-sponsored learning experiences to other staff” (italicized).
Plus One (Current Language)
The institution provides classified employees with appropriate opportunities and support for professional growth and development. The supervisor will work with their employees to develop a professional development plan that the employee would like to pursue, and will allow staff members to schedule up to a total of ten percent release time from the job for any combination of approved professional development opportunities. These opportunities include: participating in job or career-related development programs or activities, providing university-sponsored learning experiences to other staff, and/or taking college courses as outlined in policy 13.2, Lane Community College Employee Federation Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The bargaining team clarified that this language was intended to allow classified staff to provide training/learning experiences to other employees. After the bargaining session, the bargaining team revised the Plus One language to address the questions and proposed the following changes/clarifications (italicized):
Plus One (Proposed Language)
The institution provides classified employees with appropriate opportunities and support for professional growth and development. The supervisor will work with their employees to develop a professional development plan that the employee would like to pursue, and will allow staff members to schedule up to a total of ten percent release time from the job for any combination of approved professional development opportunities. These opportunities include Classified Staff facilitating College-sponsored learning experiences for other employees, participating in job or career-related development programs or activities, and/or taking college courses as outlined in policy 13.2, Lane Community College Employee Federation Collective Bargaining Agreement.