11/9/2026
When we fight, we win!
The Faculty Collective Bargaining Team met with management for a bargaining session on Friday, Nov 6.
During that session, the management team backed down on a proposal to replace department head reassigned time with a flat stipend. This is a huge success for our union! It represents the combined effort of our bargaining team, the Action and Advocacy team, and members of the union who stood together to oppose this disrespectful proposal. Big thanks to everyone who stepped up!
Let’s take a minute to remember how we got here.
- Department heads and other faculty were notified about the proposal after it was proposed on Sept 25.
- Union members made some noise during the bargaining session on Oct 9, letting the management team know they were unhappy with this proposal, their other proposals, and their lack of significant movement towards agreement.
- Department heads wrote public comments to the Board of Trustees during their meeting on Oct 15 rejecting this insulting stipend proposal and demanding fair compensation for department head work.
Management backed down because they knew this proposal was not going to go anywhere with our membership. We pushed back and they backed down. This is just more evidence that when we fight, we win!
More wins!
This was not our only win at the bargaining table last week! The FCBT also got these changes made to the contract:
- Associate faculty may now spend their professional development funds on the same things that full-time faculty can. Previously, associate faculty could not use their professional development funds to purchase books or videos to assist their professional development, while full-time faculty could.
- An increase in the amount of funds available for professional licensing and including Counseling faculty in that pool of funds.
Keep going!
While we celebrate these wins at the bargaining table, we should not lose sight of the goal. It is an unqualified success that we got management to back down on department head stipends, but this means that financially we are back to where we started. We need to keep fighting for a fair contract!
Take a moment to consider what you want to see in the contract. Do you want…
- Stronger academic freedom protections?
- The choice to use or not use AI the way that you want in your classes?
- An increase in the percentage of full-time pay that associate faculty members receive from 65% to 80%?
- An increase in the pay for every full-time step?
Whatever your priority is, now is the time to fight for it! Here’s what you can do right now.
- Stay informed about bargaining at aftedmonds.com.
- Join the Action and Advocacy team at future actions. Send a message to action@aftedmonds.com from your personal email. Watch your personal email for notifications of future actions!
- Make a public comment to the Board of Trustees at the next BOT meeting on Thursday, Nov 12 at 3:30 pm at GWY 352. You can attend the meeting and give your comment in person or send your comment to publiccomment@edmonds.edu by 5 pm on Wednesday, Nov 11. In-person speakers are given 3 minutes to speak, written statements must be under 300 words.
This is how we fight, and we know it works! Join the fight today!