A contract between the Hartnell Community College District and the Hartnell College Faculty Association ended in June 2022. Since then, faculty have continued working under the old contract which, in its final year, gave a 1-percent raise. Meanwhile, inflation spiraled upward and the federally determined COLA rose to 8.7 percent. When faculty members returned to the bargaining table this year, they were disappointed to learn the administration was offering a 6.25-percent raise for 2022-23. “We’re way apart on wages,” HCFA President Nancy Schur-Beymer says.
Currently, Hartnell faculty annual pay ranges from $57,126-$121,962, while Monterey Peninsula College faculty make between $61,600-$131,192. The MPC Board of Trustees approved a 7.22-percent wage increase on June 28. The Hartnell union was asking for a 10.5-percent increase in the first year, 8-percent the second and whatever the state allocated COLA in the third year. Hartnell administrators offered 6.25 percent for the 2022-23 school year, 3 percent for 2023-24, and 1 percent in 2024-25.
Negotiations resumed on Wednesday, Sept. 20, after the Weekly’s deadline. The two sides are meeting after a kerfuffle arose on Sept. 5, when faculty were angered by a proposal on the Hartnell board’s agenda to restructure the managers’ pay schedule. The union claimed some managers would receive a 41-percent raise, but administrators say it’s a mischaracterization and that raises are 6.25 percent the first year and 4.2 percent the second, although some positions will receive more. The board postponed a vote on manager raises until October, after negotiations with faculty are scheduled to end on Sept. 27.
“It’s complicated and negotiations are complicated,” Hartnell President/Superintendent Michael Gutierrez says. “The reality is that we, much like our faculty, are wanting to come to an agreement. We all have the same goal in mind so we would like to see it happen.”