PACCD and ISSU-CFT Reach Tentative Agreement, Classified Staff Employees Ratify Unanimously

On Thursday, July 20, the members of the Instructional Support Services Unit-California Federation of Teachers, Local 6525, (ISSU-CFT) met to review and vote on a tentative agreement recommended by union president Julio Huerta and the executive board of ISSU-CFT.

The Tentative Agreement completed negotiations between the District and ISSU-CFT on the reopener of the current collective bargaining agreement. ISSU-CFT includes most of the nearly 225 professional and office staff at PCC. The main element of the Tentative Agreement is a salary increase totaling 4.79% over two years: 2% retroactive for 2012-2013; 2% for 2013-2014 plus 0.79% or half of the COLA that is included in next year’s State budget.

The District and ISSU-CFT also concluded agreements on a range of technical and procedural issues.

Following the meeting, ISSU-CFT president, Julio Huerta, and PCC superintendent-president, Dr. Mark Rocha, made a joint statement: “This is a classic win-win agreement. ISSU-CFT and the District have concluded constructive negotiations that have led to an agreement that is good for the unit members and good for PCC. This was reflected in the unanimous approval of the ISSU-CFT membership. This is a turning point and we look forward to continuing to work together as labor-management partners.”

The Superintendent-President will bring the Tentative Agreement to the PCC Board of Trustees at its next business meeting of July 17 for the Board’s formal and final approval. “I will bring this to the Board with my strongest recommendation for approval. The classified staff are the backbone of the College and this agreement recognizes the essential contribution of our staff to PCC,” Dr. Rocha said. “I also want to thank president Julio Huerta personally, as well as the entire ISSU-CFT executive board and negotiating team for their leadership and hard work in making this happen. I applaud Julio for meeting with his entire membership, explaining the deal and putting it up for a vote.” Mr. Huerta is a Computer Technical Support Specialist Assistant in the Information Technology Services department.

The negotiation team for ISSU-CFT included Kevin Cronin, the Area Field Representative of the California Federation of Teachers to PCC’s Local 6525. The California Federation of Teachers is the statewide arm of the national American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Last year PCC’s independent ISSU unit voted to affiliate with the AFT.

Also representing ISSU-CFT on the negotiating team were Haroldine Gardner, who works in the Public Relations Office, and Gary Potts of Information Technology Services. The District’s negotiating team was General Counsel Gail Cooper and Executive Director of Human Resources, Terri Hampton.

The District intends to negotiate similar salary agreements with the College’s other classified employee bargaining units at PCC: the Police Officers Association (POA) and the California State Employees Association (CSEA) which represents PCC’s facilities and custodial staff, as well as the Management Association.