February 22, 2006

By DONNA STEFANIK
Contributing Writer

Persistence paid off for part-time faculty of the Seattle Community College District recently, when district chancellor Charles Mitchell directed the board of trustees to negotiate with the faculty union on the issue of pay equity. After months of rejecting any discussion on the issue, the board will begin meeting with the union in February.

The issue at hand is the longstanding disparity in pay between full-time faculty and part-time instructors. Part-time faculty currently make less than 75 percent of what full-timers make. There are 1,247 part-time instructors and about 380 full-time faculty in the district.

Last year, the State Legislature passed a budget allocating $261,200 to the district to bring part-timers’ salaries more in line with their full-time counterparts, with the option of the district to match that amount. The last time the district matched state funds for faculty pay was in 1999.

While negotiating might seem a small step with matching funds still out of reach, union president Lynn Dodson called the move a victory.

“ I’m delighted,” she says. “It bodes well for future negotiation. It is an example of what happens when you continue to push for the right thing.”

The union began lobbying in earnest for a district match at the time the legislature passed its budget. But the issue of pay equity has been around for years. Annette Stofer, district president for part-time faculty and an ESL instructor at South Seattle Community College, says that for more than a decade, faculty unions across the country have been working on the topic.

“ The ratio of full-time [instructors] to part-time is just horrid,” Stofer says. “It’s a real drain on departments.” Stofer adds that part-time instructors have most of the same obligations as full-time instructors, but without the pay or the job security.

Although full-time instructors teach more than part-timers, she says serving on committees and other duties are still part of part-time instructors’ workload.

“ Chances are,” though, Stofer says, “we’re not going to be paid for it.” In addition, she says, part-time instructors are at-will employees and can be laid off at any time.

After the legislature’s action last summer, with the district refusing to take up the topic for discussion with the faculty, the Seattle Community College Federation of Teachers became more active on the issue. In the last six months, it staged a bake sale, undertook informational picketing, collected petitions, and attended board meetings. The 700 union members include both full- and part-time instructors, and representatives of both were involved.

Stofer says that full-time faculty have supported the part-time instructors throughout the recent string of actions.

“ Full-time faculty has been very supportive. It affects them too,” she says, noting that full-time instructors are paid part-time fees when they teach overload or summer courses.

Dodson agrees. “Everyone looks out for one another,” she says.

Stofer adds that though some students fear pay equity will bring an increase in tuition, that has never been the goal of faculty.

“ We are against any tuition increase — in fact, we speak out against them,” she says.

But community colleges are feeling the pinch of budget constraints along with the rest of the state. That’s going to be an ongoing problem, Dodson says. She remains hopeful, she says, that at least the pay equity issue can be settled and “hopefully, the board is interested in settling this too.”

No date has been set for negotiations to begin, with the next board meeting scheduled for Jan. 12 at South Seattle Community College. Chancellor Mitchell could not be reached for comment.