Changes to faculty contract now in effect

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By David Hurtado

Modifications to the faculty contract are finalized after a lengthy negotiating period. At their June meeting the Board of Trustees approved the changes, now in effect until July 30, 2015.

Foremost among the changes was the decision to raise base salary by 2 percent the first year and 2.5 percent for years 2 and 3. Base salary for years 2 and 3 will build upon the base salary after the two percent raise for the first year.

Jeff Anderson, counselor and former Faculty Association president, said the research conducted by the bargaining team prior to contract negotiations showed the cost of living increased in Johnson County by almost 3 percent this year.

“When you receive a salary increase of 2 percent, you are not keeping up with the cost of living increases,” he said. “In years 2 and 3 of the contract, we agreed to a 2.5 percent increase but we will also be paying more for our health insurance, so that reduces the 2.5 percent increase to a lower percentage. If the cost of living increases in Johnson County continues to climb at a 3 percent annual rate; you can see where this is going.”

Don Perkins, executive director, Budget and Auxiliaries Services, said the negotiating team settled on the salary increases.

Another major amendment was the decision to require faculty members to begin paying for part of their medical insurance.

In the past, the college has fully covered rising healthcare costs. Under the new changes, the college will fully cover health insurance premiums for the first year of the contract but will require faculty members to share in the cost during the second year.

Becky Centlivre, executive director, Human Resources, said she doesn’t believe the healthcare changes will have any negative bearing on retirees, who do not have representation in the Faculty Association.

“I don’t think it’s going to impact them that much,” Centlivre said. “When you retire, [the government] takes money out of Social Security to pay for Medicare. I think them paying for part of their Medicare right now will be similar to paying for it when they turn 65.”

Centlivre said she believes the contract will be helpful in retaining faculty due to the cafeteria plan the college has. A cafeteria plan is a type of benefit that allows employees to choose between different kinds of benefits, similar to choosing between various food options in a cafeteria.

“I don’t think it will hurt at all, because our cafeteria plan is very unique,” she said. “A lot of schools don’t have a cafeteria plan. I think as long as we have that, we are extremely competitive in the market place.”

Anderson said he was disappointed with how the contract turned out.

“It’s safe to say that the 3-year contract we agreed to will not be keeping us up with the cost of living in Johnson County,” Anderson said. “The vote passed with a high percentage approval but we also had over 100 faculty members who didn’t vote.”

Another change was the decision to lower the qualifying time to receive medical leave from six months to three months, making it available to new faculty members sooner, said Deborah Williams, Faculty Association president.

“As new faculty come who might be of reproductive age or family-minded, that happens to be a benefit that could be important to retaining and recruiting faculty at this institution,” she said.

The flex dollar benefit will also be frozen for the duration of the contract. The flex dollar benefit contribution is a benefit that allows faculty members to allocate percentages of their paycheck toward different kinds of insurance. Faculty members can also store the percentages in a structured retirement program.

Centlivre said the flex dollar benefit was frozen because faculty members who did not use all of their benefit dollars could cash the remainder in, which was not the intent of the benefit.

The Master Agreement between the college and the Faculty Association is expected to be finalized “pretty soon,” according to Anderson. Human Resources employees are currently touching up on the language of the agreement, which finalizes the changes agreed upon in negotiation.

Centlivre said the agreements in the contract are in practice. The finalized agreement only applies to full-time employees with contracts signed post-July 1.

“We have agreement on all the major points,” Perkins said. “When you come out with the final version, you want every word to be as correct as possible. The Board has approved and the faculty has approved.”

Contact David Hurtado, features editor, at dhurtado@jccc.edu.

Jon Parton, managing editor, contributed to this article.

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