New Admin Proposal: How About a Pay Cut?

In July 2025, the administration of Edmonds College asked to re-bargain the MOU that covered the distribution of high-demand salary enhancements to faculty that was signed in April. The first bargaining session was held on August 13. And now, ten weeks later, we have their first proposal. And after all of that time, it sounds like their offer is: what if we gave faculty a pay cut?

Here’s what the administration proposed. Edmonds College received $680,000 from the state of Washington to pay for high-demand salary enhancements in accordance with the

Hands Off High Demand!

VP for Action and Advocacy Chuck Mueller spoke at the Board of Trustees meeting on October 16, 2025, about Dr. Singh’s refusal to follow the contract and give Edmonds College faculty the state-funded high-demand salary increases that are required by the Workforce Education Investment Act. The full text of Chuck Mueller’s statement can be found at the link, but in brief:

• The college administration has stated that they will not pay the high-demand salary enhancements that are due to many faculty in November.
• Dr. Singh claims the issue is being bargained, but the

Dr. Singh’s administration has already backed down, agreeing to give our Nursing faculty back pay for the high-demand salary enhancements that they were withholding from every paycheck since July 7, 2025. But the fight to ensure that all faculty get their full salary continues!

The administration of Edmonds College is still refusing to pay the high-demand salary enhancements for eligible faculty that should be paid out in November. These high-demand payments are required by the Workforce Education Investment Act (HB 2158) and Edmonds College received money from the state to pay them. Dr. Singh

We Won!

The administration of Edmonds College has agreed to pay the Nursing faculty the state-funded high-demand salary enhancements required by the Workforce Education Investment Act! They will be paid retroactively from July 7, which was when the first paycheck without the salary enhancement was issued. The full text of their message can be found here but the important quote is as follows:

“In the interest of our students, our Nursing Program, and the College, we are applying the Nursing Allocation payments effective July 7, 2025, in accordance with Appendix A.10.”

Thank You!

The administration

All of the faculty of Edmonds College got paid last week, but the Nursing faculty still have not received one-fifth of their salary. The college administration still has not given our Nursing faculty the high-demand salary enhancements that are mandated by the Workforce Education Investment Act and paid for by the state of Washington. The state has given the college money to pay part of the salary for our nursing educators, and the college administration unilaterally decided to keep that money.

Dr. Singh and others in the administration have responded to the union saying that the administration

Dr. Singh announced in an email on September 19, 2025, that enrollment at the college was up 8%.

But when the time comes to negotiate a new contract with the faculty union, we expect that Dr. Chapman will show the Faculty Collective Bargaining Team a budget projection that predicts disaster in an attempt to explain why the college cannot possibly spend more money on faculty salaries. What we have noticed is that while faculty salaries stagnate, the salaries of administrators continue to climb. Here is some salary data drawn from the Washington State Fiscal Information website.