COUGAR PRINT Clackamas Community College OL. X, NO. 1 Thursday, September 23, 1976 ¡trike averted Faculty, board settle contract The Board of Education and faculty at Clackamas Community ollege both agreed to a compromise contract proposal Monday, spt. 20 and salary negotiation problems, which have been going on nee February, have been resolved. The proposal presented to both sides by state mediator Lowell .shbaugh called for a six per cent cost-of-living increase in faculty ilaries. It also included a .5 per cent increase in the amount cur- jntly paid by the college towards fringe benefits to faculty mem- ers, and what is termed the fact finder's report as a "professional evelopment incentive" which amounts to approximately 3.2 per ent of the total cost of faculty salaries. By Jim Rogers Cougar Print Editor The faculty agreed unanimously to Ashbaugh's proposal Monday lorning. The board met later that evening to consider and accept ne proposal. Had the board not accepted the proposal the faculty fould probably have set a strike date. "I'm pleased that we got this thing settled and avoided a strike," said Dr. Hakanson, President of CCC. Faculty contract negotiations began last February, but talks started to get "sticky" somewhere between last July and early August. Both sides came up with economic proposals but remained in disagreement. ' According to Vince Fitzgerald, Clackamas Education Association President, the Faculty Association considered the board's offer, ", . . not only unacceptable, but also questionable on some points." 1 The first mediator appointed by the state requested that negotia tions go into fact finding and the fact finder presented an economic proposal Aug. 19 totalling a 10.1 per cent increase in the total faculty salary package. The faculty had previously voted to accept the fact finder's proposal no matter what he recommended. However, on Aug. 26 the board rejected the fact finder's pro posal, sticking to their total of a 9.3 per cent increase. Negotiations reached an impasse at this point until a week ago when Ashbaugh came up with the proposal that was eventually accepted by both sides. I The six per cent cost-of-living increase is easy enough to under stand. The .5 per cent increase means that the college pays out $6.23 more per month towards each faculty member's "fringe" benefits (mostly insurance and disability benefits) bringing the total contribution by the college per month for each employee on the faculty to $61.23. There are two salary levels for the faculty and ten steps on each level. Level II is strictly a merit level. The 3.2 per cent increment raise represents what it costs to move faculty members from the step they are on to the next step on the pay scale. Thirty-four per cent of the faculty are as far up the pay scale as they can go, so these persons will only receive a six per cent increase in salary and get the .5 per cent increase towards their benefits. I Faculty members that are eligible to move on to a higher salary level must go through an evaluation process and their supervisors can then recommend them for the move up based on the evaluation results. "You have to be a good teacher in order to move up," said Dollie Ammons, a Business Education instructor and president of the Faculty Association. 1 Beginning in February 1977, the entire faculty contract will be open again for negotiations. However, due to the mediator's proposal and its acceptance, if there is not mutual agreement between the faculty and the board regarding proposed changes in the existing contract by June 30, 1977, the main text of the faculty contract will remain intact to June 30, 1978 exclusive of salary, fringe and no strike which must be negotiated to settlement. SN: OL0055 In the beginning . . . The "beginning" seems like a point in time long ago for some stu dents who began the registration process last week. But the endless lines for financial aid, admissions, and counseling are dwindling by the end of the week, and Monday, Sept, 23, will mark the first day of classes for fall term.