Earlier in the summer, we proposed a revised financial package that aims to close the widening gap with part-time day contract rates and move closer to equal pay for equal work in DGCE. During last Tuesday's session, Management responded with a new deal: moving from a 4%-3%-2% pay adjustment over the next 3-year contract to a 4%-3%-3% adjustment. It’s just 1% more! At the Instructor rank, this concession is just ~ $16 per credit, which is hardly a step toward addressing high inflation rates.
Management insisted that they can go no higher, arguing that MSCA’s proposal is still too extreme, and they will absolutely not agree to parity with Day teaching compensation. In fact, Management declared that “parity will not happen,” that this was “the movement [they] are willing to make,” and claiming that there is “no achievable middle ground”. MSCA was called “unreasonable” in its request and argued that any additional raise would be borne by DGCE students in a difficult market.
At the beginning of negotiations, Management justified their low pay based on a scan of compensation rates with comparable institutions. However MSCA DGCE Bargaining Chair, Erika Briesacher, rightly pointed out that our own MSCA units are the most relevant “comparable” groups —and the growing DAY - DGCE pay disparity for part time faculty is egregious.
We ask you to consider…What is Unreasonable?
We think it is unreasonable to extract profits to support day programs by paying DGCE faculty less. We reminded Management that DGCE administrators—especially deans and vice-presidents—do not get paid less by virtue of leading DGCE divisions. Nor should our faculty. This isn’t about arbitrary “parity,” it’s about fairness and justice for our members and their work.
Our next bargaining session is in-person at FITCHBURG STATE on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 from 12:30-3:30. We encourage our members who live within driving distance to attend as silent representatives and/or join us in solidarity for a STAND OUT AT NOON to demonstrate that our MSCA members must be fairly compensated in DGCE. Here is the sign up form: https://forms.gle/yAETr3RYJJzLCTou8
To learn more about the September 10th session, you can read this recap.
Sincerely,
The DGCE Bargaining Team
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