Part-time teachers at Madison College may be seeing pay increases thanks to an agreement the college reached with the teacher’s union earlier this week.
After nearly a year of deliberation, Madison College agreed to allow part-time teachers a 3 percent annual pay increase and for those who have been employed longer than 13 years, a 12 percent pay increase each year over the course of the three-year contract.
Madison College Part-Time Teachers’ Union Vice President Robert Curry said the bump is substantial, but it still does not get part-time teachers even up to half of what full-time teachers make.
He said before the agreement, a full-time teacher would make $1 for every 18 cents a part-time teacher would make.
The raises are substantial for Madison College, and the agreement set a precedent for the contract between the teachers’ union and the Madison College District Board.
Madison College employs approximately 1,200 part-time teachers, and the agreement is considered a huge step forward for faculty at the college, according to the attorney to the Madison College District Board Jon Anderson.
Anderson said the head of the teachers’ union still has to sign off on the agreement.
The agreement also sets standards for what could lead to eventual agreements on benefits for all faculty at Madison College as well.
Anderson said reaching the agreement was a relief to both the Part-Time Teachers’ Union and the Madison College District Board.
“The deliberation has gone on well over a year, and it was just time to propose a contract. It ended up working out for the best. Both sides got what they wanted, and we avoided going into arbitration which would have lengthened the process more,” Anderson said.
Anderson said there was not much progress being made on the issue until Madison College proposed the agreement in March 2010.
He said the teachers’ union wanted a contract that included a three-year deal and had a longevity program, which entails the benefits for part-time teachers to stay at Madison College and would help address turnover issues.
“We wanted the decision to be made on a compromised basis and that is exactly what happened — everybody got what they wanted and the relief is a great feeling for MATC,” Anderson said.
Curry said the goal of the agreement is to make part-time teachers comparable to full-time teachers.
Curry said the Madison College administration has its salary and benefits linked to that of the full-time teachers, and when the administration and full-time teachers sit down to negotiate, there is no mediator.
“What is a little bit of a sweet [deal] at MATC is that there is no outside representatives [for full time teachers salary negotiations],” Curry said. “There is no one to say, ‘Wait a minute, this is out of control.'”
