All PCC Faculty Who Teach Face-to-Face to Return to Campus Today, 2 Weeks After Campus Reopened

Pasadena City College faculty and administrators on Friday reached a consensus on a supplemental working conditions agreement nearly two weeks after the college officially reopened for in-person teaching.

The period was marked by demonstrations and tense negotiations as many faculty, believing the campus unsafe, protested the return. Some faculty risked insubordination by refusing to return to their classrooms.

“This was a very challenging and prolonged negotiation process. Over the last two weeks, representatives from the District and Faculty Association met for many hours on many days, including weekends,” wrote Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Human Resources Robert Blizinski and Mark Whitworth of the Pasadena City College Faculty Association in a joint statement Friday. “And while the process was often tense, we were able to agree.”

The joint statement said the terms and content of the MOU will be shared widely upon ratification at the Feb. 16 Board meeting, but the Faculty Association published some details on its site.

According to the PCCFA, as a result of the negotiations — set against falling COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations across the County — all faculty who teach face-to-face are expected to return to campus to teach their regular schedule beginning Monday, February 7.

The supplemental agreement also both requires all faculty receive booster jabs by early May and extends them a $500 payment for proving they have, according to the PCCFA.

The greatest sticking point in negotiations was discipline against those faculty who had declined to return to their classrooms and remained working remotely, the Association reported.

It said that the agreement reached with administrators is that all faculty who remained remote from January 24 through February 6 due to their safety concerns will be issued a letter of counseling outlining the contract expectations and violations. That letter will not be a part of the unit member’s personnel file or be used as any part of the unit member’s evaluation and will be destroyed by the Faculty Association by December 23, 2022 provided no insubordination occurs within the stated time period.

Teachers had objected to being required to return to campus for classroom instruction in what they said were unsafe conditions due to the pandemic and pointed to most other local colleges, which maintained virtual learning past PCC’s January 24 reopening.

College administrators pointed out the faculty had agreed in a Dec. 30 agreement to return and that every effort was being made to follow safety rules and rigorous testing to make the campus a safe environment.

Roughly 58 percent of PCC’s courses are offered face-to-face; the remainder are hybrid or online-only classes.