After months of negotiations and stalled efforts on both sides, Mercer's Faculty Association and administration have negotiated a contract for faculty. The key areas of the agreement are the teachers' salaries, medical costs and tenure experience requirements.
The process to negotiate this new contract was long and laborious. Lasting through the summer and the majority of the fall 2009 semester, negotiations concluded in mid November.
The faculty negotiating team met many times with President Donohue and Chief Business and Financial Officer Joseph Eapen who represented Mercer's Board of Trustees. At several points during the contentious negotiations, the faculty union voted to boycott committee meetings.
The faculty negotiating team was lead by mathematics Professor Arthur Schwartz and included History Professor Craig Coenen, Chemistry Professor Michael Dorneman and English Professor Sharmila Sen. Schwartz has 30 years of negotiating experience. Schwartz described the negotiation process as "brutal" and mentioned that 19 other issues were on the table for negotiation in addition to what is described in the new contract.
The new faculty contract is retroactive as of July 1, 2009 and replaces the old contract which expired June 30, 2009. The agreement will remain in effect for four years, expiring June 30, 2013.
The key point of the negotiations focused on faculty salaries. After negotiations, the faculty and administration agreed that faculty would get 3.75 percent annual increase in their salaries. This increase combines with an increased overload rate, a bonus paid to faculty who teach credits beyond their usual teaching load. The new overload rate is applied retroactively back to the beginning of summer 2009, so faculty don't lose out on money they should have made during the negotiation process. Originally, the faculty negotiators were aiming at an overall annual increase of 4.5 percent for salaries, but a variety of factors including America's ailing economy prevented this outcome.
The promotion system for Mercer's faculty has also been changed somewhat. Faculty members who are applying to be promoted from the rank of associate professor to full professor rank, must have more years of full-time teaching experience than they used to if they have an M.F.A. degree rather than a Ph.D.
As part of the negotiation agreement, two task forces will be convened. One will look at costs of health care. The other will revisit the qualifications needed for promotion in rank.
Medical cost for faculty was a further concern during negotiations. Several other New Jersey community colleges were were in contract negotiations this year had to make concessions where medical benefits were concerned. Under Mercer's new agreement Mercer's faculty members will not be paying into their health benefits until 2013. At that time the contract is up for renegotiation and faculty hope to further postpone any cuts to their health benefits. Avoiding these cuts for the time being represents a significant achievement for Mercer's negotiation team.
Contract negotiations were not limited to Mercer's faculty. Mercer's security and maintenance staff, who usually negotiate along side the faculty union, decided to settle their contracts earlier. Mercer's faculty expressed relief and happiness at the new contract. Faculty have resumed attending committee meetings and as the end of semester approaches, they have largely caught up on the backlog of work.