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COD presents faculty with ‘final’ contract offer
Updated: June 11, 2012 8:37AM
As part of continuing contract negotiations, College of DuPage presented full-time faculty members with what it called its “best and final” offer on Friday.
The contract will be up for approval by the COD Board of Trustees at its Thursday meeting.
“We have negotiated in good faith over the last 14 months. This agreement is fair and competitive for our faculty, and is fiscally responsible for College of DuPage ,” COD President Robert L. Breuder said. “We have significantly modified our position on key issues since the start of these negotiations to ensure a compromise that best serves this institution and the citizens of this district.”
The college says it is offering compromises on several crucial issues, including summer pay and compensation for different methods of instruction. Throughout negotiations, the college has proposed gradually reducing full-time faculty summer teaching pay over three years and has sought to align faculty pay more closely to the type of instruction being provided. In addition, the college has offered pay raises through 2015 averaging 3.43 percent per year.
“During the negotiations process, it was imperative that we take measures to ‘right-size’ the full-time faculty contract to more accurately reflect current fiscal considerations at the college, which we have done,” Breuder said. “At the same time, there is no question that this contract demonstrates our high regard for the value and service our full-time faculty members provide this institution.”
The college will be holding informational sessions for faculty next week to explain its offer and answer questions.
Faculty Association President Glenn Hansen said that he was disappointed in the college’s position.
“At the end of this long session, they gave out what was obviously a prepared proposal,” Hansen said of the offer made by the college at the end of the Friday mediation session. “They had this all planned out.”
Hansen went on to say that there was a small amount of movement in two of the main sticking points between the parties, summer school salary and salary for non-traditional methods of teaching.
But he said the college was being misleading about the salary issue, claiming that the four-year offer amounts to an increase of 3.42 percent. He said that the average over four years is closer to 1 percent per year.
Moreover, Hansen said the college wanted to reserve the right to change member’s benefits based solely on financial reasons, but without negotiations.
Hansen downplayed the possibility of a faculty walkout, saying that teachers would continue to work without a contract.
“There’s nothing that would force us to go on strike,” he said.
