PSC Press Release: Pensacola State College and the Pensacola State College faculty association (PSCFA) bargaining team did not reach an agreement today on the proposed contract. The PSC administration has declared impasse.
Bargaining has been taking place since February 2013 on the 2013-2014 contract. An agreement was reached in April of this year between the bargaining teams; however the faculty association failed to garner enough support to ratify the agreement. The administration has continued to negotiate with the faculty association bargaining team since that time and set a deadline of last Friday for a decision. Last Friday, the faculty association bargaining team asked for more concessions. The administration agreed to some of the requested concessions and the deadline for a decision to accept or reject the administration’s final proposal was extended until today. The faculty association bargaining team has come back requesting additional concessions and the administration has declared impasse.
“We have been negotiating in good faith with PSC’s faculty association for more than a year and a half and feel that we have been fair to all with the terms of the contract,†said Dr. Edward Meadows, president of Pensacola State College. “I am very disappointed that the faculty association bargaining team did not agree to the terms in the proposed contract and will not be moving it forward to our faculty for ratification.â€
The contract proposed by the administration included a 2 percent pay raise for all faculty members, $60,000 to address compression pay issues, an increase between promotion steps with an accompanying increase in the promotion raises, as well as an increase in overload pay for the majority of the faculty. “We truly value and appreciate the very talented and committed faculty members here at PSC,†said Meadows. “However, it’s important to understand that we are not receiving the same amount of state funding that we once did. State funding has decreased over the last seven years from 70 percent of the total budget, to approximately 50 percent of the total budget,†Meadows continued.
“Programs at Pensacola State College are not equally funded by the state, nor do all programs generate the same rate of tuition. We must look at more efficient ways to meet the needs of our students and to attempt to equalize the burden that some faculty members are carrying for programs that do not receive equal funding or equal tuition,†Meadows concluded.
Since the proposed contract was not agreed to by the faculty association’s bargaining team, it will now begin moving through the impasse resolution process.