On June 15, 2026 we had a bargaining session with SCF-Admin. The primary focus of this session was Article 25: Compensation. We presented our Union compensation proposal approximately 9 months ago, but the Administration would not offer a counter-proposal until the state budget was approved, which of course did not occur this year until the end of May.  

 

In today’s bargaining meeting the Administration presented the expected one-time non-recurring 7% (or $4000) payment. When agreed to this one-time supplement will be provided to all current full-time faculty members including those members that are retiring. 

 

In addition to the one time supplement of 7%, SCF-Admin accepted our original request for a 7% increase to overload course assignments, which will raise summer premium overload pay from $2,550 to $2,725 and regular overload pay from $2,100 to $2,250. 

 

Because this was the first time we had seen the Administration’s compensation proposal we crafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) during caucus. Our MOU was a request that Administration agree to provide faculty with the one-time supplement at the beginning of July along with the rest of Administration and Staff. This would allow the funds to be dispersed to members while we work on bargaining the rest of the compensation article as well as the other articles that are currently open. Because of the substantial work involved and the long delay of the Administration in providing the compensation article this requires another bargaining session in July. We hoped that the Administration would put the best interest of the Faculty first and agree to disperse the one-time supplement to all of us, the sooner the better. 

 

Unfortunately, the Administration refused to sign our proposed MOU. Rather than prioritizing the best interest of faculty by dispersing a payment that the Board of Trustees has already agreed to and that they are preparing to distribute to the rest of the College in the first paycheck in July they have, instead, chosen to ignore good-will and use this as a leveraging chip in on-going negotiations. This, of course, is disappointing, but it is consistent with the past behavior of the Administration. During negotiations we stated that we had previously signed an MOU (the Benefits Article from last year) for Administration and hoped that the Administration would do the right thing and now sign an MOU for the Faculty, but they refused, and this is disappointing. 

 

We are now planning a formal campaign for the June 30th Board of Trustees meeting. If at all possible we would like faculty members to attend this Board of Trustees meeting and make a public comment. Even if you cannot make a public comment your attendance will make a huge difference. The Board of Trustees has some sympathy for faculty and they do appear to understand the need for recurring salary increases. If we launch a successful campaign we believe that obtaining a recurring raise to the base salary along with the one-time supplement is possible. However, to achieve this, we must demonstrate strength in numbers, and some of us need to present public comments at the board meeting that highlight the vital need for recurring salary increases for faculty. 

 

Please let your Union leadership know if you would like to make a public comment and please, if you are in town, make every effort to attend (even if you do not intend to make a public comment) the BOT meeting at 9:30am on June 30th. 

 

Within the next day or two we will be uploading an audio/video recording of the Bargaining session so you may view this at your leisure. Be on the lookout for an email notifying you about the recording of the bargaining session. 

 

In solidarity, 

 

Philip W. Travis 

UFF-SCF Lead Negotiator