According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2015 to 2016 the cost of living rose 1.4 percent.² From 2016 to 2017 the cost of living rose another 2.5 percent, and in our most recent year, the cost of living has risen 2.1 percent above that.³ By contrast, district faculty salaries have been flat, with full-time faculty, receiving zero percent increases over the entire period, and part-time faculty gaining some ground, but progress that is hardly worth celebrating.⁴ To say this is insulting is to grossly understate the obvious. But, until I examined some comparative data, I had no idea just how badly our faculty have been undervalued. Recently, the CFT research department completed a salary survey of all 72 California Community College Districts, which they have shared with us. These results confirm something that many faculty members in the district have instinctively known for years— when compared to our peers; we are grossly underpaid for doing equivalent work under equivalent conditions. Just how underpaid are we? I have spent the last few days analyzing where we stand and what I have found shocked even me. Unfortunately, summarizing these results into a bulleted list simply doesn’t do them justice. At the risk of being cliché, these are results that you truly must see to believe. To that end, I am preparing a detailed slide presentation that I will be sharing with the members who attend the September 21, 2018 general membership meeting at the Marriott. As we enter negotiations with the district this spring, it is more critical than ever that we remain engaged, educated and united. Please make every effort to join us on Friday for what I expect will be a very eye-opening discussion. References
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