Ciela Valle-Olguin
Hello Trustees.
My name is Ciela Valle-Olguin, and I work as the Program Coordinator for the Foundation. I am also a member of the Classified staff. Last month, I encouraged you to push for a better offer from the Office of Financial Management for the coming biennium: the offer on the table was a 0% wage increase for the next two years.
A 0% increase in this contract is demoralizing and insulting, and it becomes even harder to face when the College spends over $140,000 every bargaining cycle to pay OFM to negotiate against us. That is $140,000 that could be going towards raises for all of our staff, keeping resources where they belong and giving us a more agile contract that actually suits the needs of Edmonds College employees.
Classified staff are the backbone of this institution: we are some of the first people that students speak with, before they ever set foot in a classroom. When staff are underpaid, exhausted, and burned out, students cannot thrive. So I urge the Board to cancel the college's contract with OFM, and invest that money directly in the workers that keep this college running.
Thank you.