Chaparral 2023-2024: Overcoming Challenging Times with President Richard Kamei

Overcoming Challenging Times

For this article, I was asked to address our fears as workers and community members at GCC.  In that regard, I chose to discuss my concerns about our declining real wages.

As I talk to faculty and staff at GCC, more and more I see the demoralizing effects of our salaries falling further behind the increases in cost of living.  I have heard many heartbreaking stories from faculty, especially from adjunct faculty, having great difficulty making ends meet.  It brings back memories from the Great Recession of 2008 and its aftermath, when I spoke with several faculty about the financial crises that they were personally experiencing.  Back then, our Guild and our parent union, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), campaigned to pass Proposition 30 in 2012 to bring much needed funding to public schools, colleges, and universities.  Thanks to everyone’s hard work and sacrifice, Proposition 30 passed and went into effect on January 1, 2013.

We are now nearing the end of 2023 and our faculty once again are faced with declining real income.  The difference this time is that faculty in many of the districts around us are receiving excellent raises that amount to the COLA of 8.22% or more, while our college’s budget situation has created a challenging environment to negotiate raises.

We must turn this situation around so that faculty and staff are properly compensated for their work. It is also necessary so that we can recruit the best faculty and retain them. Unfortunately, a significant challenge is that we are currently experiencing a perfect storm with the DOE audit, ACCJC accreditation site visit with a focus on the Core inquiry regarding the college’s fiscal conditions, and significant increases to health insurance costs.

The Guild leadership and I are working hard every day to address the significant challenges that we face. At the time of this writing, we are working cautiously to address the skyrocketing costs of our health insurance while minimizing any negative impact on our members.  The Guild Exec and the negotiating team are also brainstorming and strategizing ways to win a decent salary raise despite the realities of our college’s budget.

The lack of money is also impacting the implementation of the Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program.  Due to the difficulties with our budget, the District is being extremely cautious about incurring upfront additional costs without the absolute certainty that they will be fully reimbursed this year and into the future. At this time, the Guild and the CFT, based on the data, are confident that full reimbursement will occur.  We hope to have positive news on this matter soon.

The Guild understands that the current administration led by Superintendent/President Dr. Ryan Cornner inherited a difficult budget and he has been working diligently with the Interim Executive Vice President of Administrative Services, Amir Nour, and all the constituencies to rectify and strengthen our budget.  This is absolutely vital for the wellbeing of our college.  However, the faculty and staff are critical for the success of our college and therefore must be prioritized as well. Dr. Cornner has publicly stated that he will put every available penny towards our salary raises. I believe that he is being sincere.  At the same time, we may not agree on what is available or feasible.  This is what negotiations are for.

I will conclude by stating that our Guild has always come through for our beloved college every time that we have faced financial difficulties. This time is no different. We also need the college to do right by us. We cannot continue to fall further behind, and the demoralizing effect that this will have will be difficult to recover from.
 

Richard T. Kamei

October 7, 2023