The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

Negotiations on COLA leads to more negotiation and campaigning

The El Camino College Federation of Teachers begin their educational campaign march through ECC campus grounds on Thursday, Sept. 30, to create awareness over the Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) contract dispute with the district. Months of negotiations between the Federation and the district have yet to bring about an agreement over the union’s proposed retroactive 3.26% COLA increase to their salaries, according to a union press release. On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Federation plans to hold another education campaign march through the college. Mari Inagaki/ The Union
The El Camino College Federation of Teachers begin their educational campaign march through ECC campus grounds on Thursday, Sept. 30, to create awareness over the Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) contract dispute with the district. Months of negotiations between the Federation and the district have yet to bring about an agreement over the union’s proposed retroactive 3.26% COLA increase to their salaries, according to a union press release. On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Federation plans to hold another education campaign march through the college. Mari Inagaki/ The Union

For the last few months, the El Camino College Federation of Teachers has been trying to negotiate with the El Camino College district about receiving the 2019/2020 Cost of Living Adjustment.

On Monday, the Federation (the teacher’s union) and the El Camino College (ECC) district had a negotiation over the Cost of Living Adjustments for faculty members at El Camino College.

“We still have not come to an agreement,” Union President Kelsey Iino said.

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is the change in the amount of money required to live in the state, the state calculates it every year and the percentage would go into a worker’s salary so that their money will go as far as the year before.

On Sept. 30, Federation members, as well as supporters, gathered on the ECC campus in an “academic campaign.”

Iino said that this campaign was, “…to educate the community and our other faculty members, about what we’re asking for, from the district.”

Iino says that the goal of this academic campaign was also to potentially improve the outcome of Monday’s negotiations.

“Just so you know the negotiating team is going back to the table, on Monday. So hopefully this is effective. If it’s not effective we are going to do this again next Thursday,” Iino said on Sept. 30.

Iino said that there has been another negotiation scheduled for Oct. 13. Until then, the next academic campaign will take place on Oct. 7 from noon to 2 p.m. on campus.

“You know we want change, and we want to see change and we believe that change is coming and so we just want to actively support that process by being visibly out,” Iino said.

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