11/16/2026
The Faculty Collective Bargaining Team (FCBT) met with management on Friday, Nov 13 to bargain. Here’s what happened.
Management Says No Raises for Faculty
In August 2026, the FCBT presented management with a financial proposal that includes a 5% raise for every full-time faculty step. This measure would increase the pay of both full-time and associate faculty and represent a commitment by the college to support one of the classes of employees who do the essential work of the college: educating students. The faculty of this college did not receive a raise in the last contract bargaining cycle. While we have received cost-of-living adjustments every year as mandated by and mostly paid for by the state legislature, those adjustments have not kept up with rising costs.
The management team presented their counterproposal to the FCBT on Nov 13.
Their proposal was the existing pay rate for each step.
The faculty of this college know that faculty labor is student success. Our working conditions are student learning conditions. When faculty have a living wage, we can focus our attention on our students’ academic development instead of figuring out how to make ends meet.
And yet, the management of this college refuses to give us any additional financial support. They choose instead to give us existing contract language dressed up as a counterproposal. They chose to give us this counterproposal three months after we submitted our financial proposals to them.
Instead, management chooses to give themselves raises every year, as you can easily see in the State Salary Reports. Dr. Singh received an average raise of $23,000 every year for the last four years. Dr. Chapman, VP of Instruction, received an average raise of $9325 every year for the last four years. Suzanne Moreau, VP of Human Resources, received a raise of $10,000 last year. There always seems to be enough money for raises for top management, but when faculty need any kind of raise, there’s suddenly no room in the budget.
The FCBT was, to say the least, unimpressed with management’s counter. Stay tuned for our next steps.
Corrections Bargaining Begins
College management also met with the bargaining for Appendix B in the contract, which specifically addresses the Corrections division. This bargaining team is DawnMoon Jaques, Kaitlin Gillespie, and Chuck Mueller. This team represents the faculty who work at the Monroe Correctional Complex giving students a range of educational opportunities including GED classes, construction skills, business management, and basic skills.
Teaching at Monroe Correctional Complex is much different than teaching on our main campus. A full-time faculty member there will teach for six hours a day, five days a week. The teaching environment is more dangerous than your average classroom. Faculty teach with corrections officers nearby at all times. Classrooms can be very hot or very cold depending on the weather. Internet access is extremely restricted, meaning Corrections faculty do not have access to the same range of educational materials that faculty on our main campus would have. Corrections faculty do this work because it’s important. They can see the benefit their students get from their education.
The Corrections faculty are mostly covered by the same contract as the rest of the faculty. However, because working in Corrections is so different from working at the main campus, there are special provisions in the contract for Corrections faculty in Appendix B of the contract. The Corrections bargaining team met with management on Friday, Nov 13, to begin negotiations on this appendix.
- The Corrections bargaining team started the negotiations by presenting a series of proposals to management. These proposals included the following:
- Paid preparation time so faculty can grade, complete administrative tasks, and develop curriculum.
- More non-instructional days to give faculty more time to grade work, submit grades, and complete paperwork.
- Limit class capacities to ensure instructor safety on campus.
- Align the instructional mode for courses that are taught at Monroe CC and on the main campus so that an instructor is compensated in the same way for teaching classes on either campus.
- Change the compensation structure for faculty who are prevented from leaving Monroe CC by a lockdown to be paid at the Special Assignment rate instead of the stipend rate.
In summary, what our Corrections faculty are asking for is more time, more safety, and equity. What they need is your support during this negotiation. We are stronger when we stand together.
When we fight, we win!
Do you want to tell management to give us a raise? Do you want Corrections faculty to have the prep time they need to do their jobs effectively? Whatever your priority is, we encourage you to give a public comment to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting on Tuesday, Nov 17, at 3:30 pm in Room 352 in Gateway Hall. Public comments can be given in person at the meeting or submitted in writing to publiccomment@edmonds.edu by Nov 16 at 5 pm.
If you have questions about public comments, contact Chuck Mueller at president@aftedmonds.com for more information. If you want to learn more about future actions, contact our VPs for Action & Advocacy, Jackie Sheppard and Leslie Rossman, at action@aftedmonds.com. Keep an eye on your personal emails for notifications about future actions!