Bargaining Update: August 22

AFT 2121 is bargaining for a stronger City College—for the good of our members and our students. At Tuesday’s session with Chancellor Martin’s team, we:

Reached a Tentative Agreement on Article 8– “Duties and Responsibilities”

AFT gave the District a counter proposal for Article 8 on Duties/Responsibilities, in which the district and AFT finalized our terms on the use of District email and learning management system. We reached a tentative agreement on this proposal (link).

Received an Inadequate Salary Proposal & Offered Our Own Counter Proposal:

David Martin’s team increased their previously proposed salaries for 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 by 1% for 24-25, while continuing to ignore AFT’s proposals for salary increases for the two previous academic years (21-22 & 22-23) during which faculty lived in a period of record inflation without a new contract and without raises. The District also again Tuesday rejected AFT’s proposals regarding initial salary schedule placement for nurse practitioners, stipends for athletic coaches, severance, and additional steps for part-time faculty. These decisions put the health of our programs at risk.

David Martin continued a troubling practice Tuesday of not preparing his team to have an informed discussion around the college’s budget and their proposals–AFT has made clear that the college has the money for making faculty salaries competitive, and Martin continues to reject doing so without explanation. It is time for David Martin to show his work and negotiate in good faith with the faculty who have devoted their lives to this college. City College programs cannot maintain their reputation for excellence if they cannot attract and retain quality faculty.

At Tuesday’s session, AFT immediately presented the District with our counter economic proposal (link) that reflects what faculty deserve and what our college can afford. Your AFT Team has been working diligently to press forward sensible proposals that the District can afford while continuing to increase course offerings and enrollment.

What’s next:

Please stay tuned for our next open bargaining session dates and come and bring a colleague or two! For more information and updates on AFT’s organizing work, come to the delegate assembly meeting on Tuesday, August 29 (link here).

In solidarity,

Your AFT 2121 Bargaining Team