Dear CAAT-A Members,
Monday, the College faculty bargaining team will be in mediation with the bargaining agent for the Colleges. This mediation is designed to remedy the harm caused by an unconstitutional law that prevented the 16,000 CAAT-A faculty members from negotiating appropriate wage increases in our recent round of bargaining.
Finally, in Monday’s wage reopening mediation, we will now get to see whether, in an age of record-setting profits, College Presidents want us to have wages that keep pace with inflation, or whether the Presidents instead aim to ensure that our wages, including the wages of 6,500 partial-load faculty, are further eroded by inflation.
Because of our work, the Colleges recorded over $650 million in profits this year, and over $2 billion in profits since 2017. But during that same period, our real wages went down 11% because of inflation. There is no financial reason for the College Presidents to deny us wage adjustments that match the cost of living. And there is no longer any legislative reason, since Bill 124 is null and void.
We hope that the College Presidents will choose to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of all faculty by offering wage increases that reflect our needs and the needs of our families.
Yours in solidarity,
Your CAAT-A Bargaining Team