UPDATED

SRJC faculty approved the ratification of the Tentative Agreement (TA) Sept. 3 in a close vote of 294 to 256, allowing the college to lower salaries for the 2010/2011 year.

Following negotiations between the All Faculty Association (AFA) and the SRJC District, the TA calls for $3.08 million cut to faculty salaries to fill the district’s $6.2 million shortfall. This was one of the closest votes on an agreement ratification in AFA history, said AFA President Warren Ruud. 

Within the TA are six Memoranda of Understanding, which faculty agreed to by ratifying the TA. The memoranda include salary reductions for regular faculty, a two-day furlough, full-time faculty paying 4 percent of their medical premiums, a 2 percent reduction reduction to adjunct salaries for the Adjunct Faculty Medical Benefits Program, and a promise to retain prior unit workload for faculty who voluntarily give up some of their workload. The memoranda of understanding also state that faculty salaries will increase if district revenue increases.

“We know that not all faculty members will be completely satisfied with all provisions of these MOU’s, but in total, the agreement represents the consensus of the Council and the best possible compromise in these challenging times,” AFA Chief Negotiator Anne Herbst and AFA President Ruud stated in an e-mail addressing the TA.

Herbst and Ruud claimed in an e-mail sent to faculty Aug. 19 that the Tentative Agreement would save more than 300 adjunct positions and 500 class sections.

“In the end, a majority of faculty voted for students over their pocketbooks,” Ruud said. 

According to Ruud, a few faculty are urging protests against the majority rule during AFA meetings. 

“I’m hoping that we can redirect some of the energy we saw during the ratification to working on advocating for SRJC in Sacramento. I think the students are way out in front of faculty on that issue,” Ruud said.