AFT 1388 - Negotiations

Negotiations

For information about the ongoing revenue sharing and part-time healthcare bargaining, please see our 2026 Bargaining Updates page here.

2025-2028 Contract Negotiations Ends with a New Agreement!

Updated August 11, 2026

Bargaining

On February 14, 2025, the Federation and District bargaining teams met to begin negotiations for the successor agreement to our current collective bargaining agreement, which expired on June 30, 2025. In the months prior to the February 14, 2025 meeting, the Federation and the District opened (sunshined) the articles that appear below for bargaining.

Federation: 3, 8 10, 17, 23, 25, C1-3, D1-5, N (see full text here)

District: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 (see full text here)

Ratification

On January 9, 2026, the Federation and District bargaining teams reached a complete tentative agreement for a successor CBA covering the term of July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2028. Members are encouraged to vote to ratify this agreement during the ratification period of January 21, 2026 (7:45 AM) - February 17, 2026 (11:45 PM).

The voting period concluded on February 17 at 11:45 PM. Federation Membership ratified the agreement with a vote of 262 in favor and 49 opposed. On February 18, the El Camino College Board of Trustees ratified the agreement as well, making the agreement effective.

The finalized agreement is available on our contract page.

Payroll and HR are working on implementing the various parts of the contract. So far, we have the tentative deadlines:

February/March 2026: Dual Enrollment stipends for Fall 2025 Dual Enrollment assignments paid.

March 2026 pay rates: Payroll should have all new salary schedules and hourly rates in the system.

March 2026 District FT healthcare contributions: New contributions should appear on your March pay except for FT faculty who have waived coverage or elected single coverage--those faculty will see a double monthly payment on their April pay.

April 2026 pay cycle: C3 faculty off schedule payments should be paid.

May 25, 2026: Retro checks issued for work completed under new salary schedules and hourly rates completed between July 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026.

Below, you will find a summary of important improvements to healthcare, pay, and working conditions that the proposed CBA will provide upon ratification. The Federation bargaining team has assembled comparative data and further explanation of the proposed tentative agreement. Finally, you can view the proposals for articles that were still open prior to mediation and the complete text of all proposed tentative agreements for the 2025 successor contract negotiations. For more details about bargaining sessions, please see our 2025 bargaining update page.

Tentative Agreement Highlights

2.6% (COLA+) salary/rate increase or stipend retroactive to July 1, 2025, which increases PT/FT faculty pay, decreases the existing pay rate disparity between FT faculty groups, and decreases the parity gap between PT and FT counselors
Substantial increases to District healthcare premium contributions for FT Faculty
Increased District spending on PT healthcare MOU
Addition of new Step 7 to PT pay rate schedules (July 2026)
Increased paid professional development hours for PT faculty (up to 10 h/semester)
Significantly accelerated accrual rate for PT faculty sick leave
Paid jury duty for PT faculty
Reduced minimum mandatory on-campus workdays from 3 to 2 days per week for FT instructional faculty
Fall Professional Development Day mandatory attendance reduced from 6 to 3 hours for FT faculty
Compensation for the second and third contract years will utilize a negotiated revenue sharing model

Notes: The figure above reflects an approximate calculation of additional District spending commitments for healthcare and salary/pay rates to FT and PT faculty outlined in the proposed CBA based on SP25 administrative data. These numbers do not reflect the additional spending associated with statutory benefits, additional pay (e.g. overload, stipends, etc.), or estimate the spending outcomes of revenue sharing in years 2 or 3 of the agreement.

FT Faculty Healthcare

If this agreement is ratified, District financial support for all FT faculty healthcare plans will be substantially increased, especially for dependent inclusive plans. Please see the figures below to view the current faculty enrollment and District cost of FT faculty healthcare usage, as well as the projected District costs and FT faculty benefits available upon ratification.

FT Faculty Healthcare Utilization

About half of our FT faculty are enrolled in healthcare plans that include dependent coverage (2-Party and Family). Given the significantly higher costs of these plans, the teams reached a compromise that achieves relatively proportional increased District support to each group.

The teams approached this issue by increasing the maximum dollar amounts of District contribution to FT faculty healthcare premiums for each election type and by modestly increasing stipends to those who forgo dependent coverage.

Notes: "Waive" refers to FT faculty who waive all healthcare benefits. Numbers in each slice reflect headcount of enrollees in that election type.

Increased District Contributions to FT Faculty Healthcare

The figure below shows the net amount of additional District spending available to each type of enrollee upon ratification. Faculty enrolled in lower cost plans may not use all of the additional District contribution capacity while those who elect higher cost plans may exceed the new maximum capacity.

Specifically, annual District healthcare premium contribution amounts were amended as follows:

Waive - additional $588 stipend (+$588/yr)
Single - $11,160 increased to $16,000 + additional $180 stipend (+$5,020/yr)
2-Party - $18,000 increased to $22,000 (+$4,000/yr)
Family - $21,600 increased to $27,000 (+5,400/yr)

The Current Outlook

While about two-thirds of District spending on FT healthcare premiums is presently dedicated to enrollees in dependent coverage plans, affordability remains difficult. With the existing District contribution amounts and 2026 CALPERS rates, there are a limited number of options available to FT faculty that don't exceed the District contribution caps. Currently, there are only 5 Single, 1 2-Party, and ZERO Family healthcare plan options that are available to FT faculty without additional out-of-pocket payments.

Greater FT Faculty Healthcare Affordability Upon Ratification

The proposed agreement significantly increases the gross amount of District spending of FT healthcare. Further, it maintains a roughly similar to current allocation of District spending on FT healthcare, with Waive and 2-Party enrollees remaining relatively consistent with current proportions, while there is a small reallocation of proportional share from Single to Family enrollees. Importantly, the number of fully covered healthcare plan options will increase to 9 Single plans, 4 2-Party plans, and 3 Family plans, based on the 2026 CALPERS rates.

The Average Case

The figure below illustrates the current (left column in each group) and projected (right column in each group, after ratification) average District healthcare expenditure per FT faculty member enrollee for each plan election type. If the proposed agreement is ratified, average additional healthcare coverage for FT faculty is projected to increase 11.26% for Single plan enrollees, 20.47% for 2-Party plan enrollees, and 23.99% for Family plan enrollees.

Notes: Average costs are calculated by dividing the total District expenditure for a given election type by the total number of enrollees who elect that type of plan. Results are computed using FA25 FT faculty healthcare enrollment data and 2026 CALPERS rates. Waive and Single stipends are included in the calculations.

PT Faculty Healthcare

If this agreement is ratified, the current and popular PT healthcare MOU will be augmented in terms of increased total District contributions to PT healthcare premium reimbursements and increased individual benefit eligibility amounts. Additionally, the Federation and District will begin bargaining to explore the 100% state premium reimbursement program immediately following ratification. The new benefits provided are outlined in the table below.

Compensation

If this agreement is ratified, effective July 1, 2025 (retroactively), a salary increase of 2.6% will be applied to FT and PT salaries, rates, and special rates in Appendices C1, C2, D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5. At the same time, a 2.6% (of annual salary) stipend will be paid to all faculty on the C3 salary schedule. We are pleased to have achieved a COLA+ salary increase (California state funded COLA is 2.3%) that is in line with our peers. Additionally, beginning in July 2026, a new Step 7 will be added to all PT faculty pay rate schedules.

Applying salary increases to C3 in this way allowed us to fund the augmentation and extension of the PT healthcare benefit MOU, described above, as well as decrease the magnitude of the existing disparity between the three FT faculty hourly pay rates that currently exist between the salary schedules for 175-day faculty (C1 schedule), fiscal year (net 222-day per Article 10) faculty (C2 schedule), and 200-day faculty (C3 schedule). Currently the three schedules pay three different hourly pay rates at the same workload/step/column, where C3 pays substantially more than C1 and C2. If ratified, this agreement will make C1 and C2 hourly pay rates substantially closer to C3 hourly pay rates, though C3 rates will remain higher than C1 and C2 rates at every step and column with the singular exception of C1, Column 1, Step 30, which ends up being very slightly higher.

See below for more information about FT faculty pay rates and a comparison of representative salary columns from the three schedules currently and after ratification.

Notes: 175-day (C1) FT faculty appear in blue in the figures below and include instructors (credit, non-credit, and PT instructional in the summer/winter sessions), SHS medical professionals classified as faculty, librarians, and SRC disabilities specialists. Fiscal year (C2, net 222-day) FT faculty appear in red in the figures below and include faculty coordinators. 200-day (C3) FT faculty appear in gold in the figures below and include counselors. Rates are calculated in dollars per contract day, where a contract day is defined by our agreement as an 8-hour workday at 100% load, regardless of faculty type. Accordingly, $/contract day pay rates are directly proportional to $/hour pay rates.

Current MA Rate Comparison

Class II ("Column 2") on each salary schedule applies to FT faculty who hold at least a Master's degree. Currently, C1 and C2 daily/hourly rates are similar, eventually converging and crossing in later steps. At all steps in Range II, C3 rates are significantly higher than C1 and C2 rates.

Post-Ratification MA Rate Comparison

If this agreement is ratified, the figure below reflects the pay rates for Class II. Here, C2 and C3 rates are nearly the same, with C1 rates still lagging behind. The total disparity between all three sets of rates is diminished at every step. C3 rates still remain higher than C1 and C2 rates.

Current MA+48 Rate Comparison

Class IV ("Column 4") on each salary schedule applies to FT faculty who hold at least a Master's degree plus an additional 48 units in the field of that Master's degree at a Master's level or higher. Currently, C1 and C2 daily/hourly rates lag behind C3 rates as they do in Class II above.

Post-Ratification MA+48 Rate Comparison

If this agreement is ratified, the figure below reflects the pay rates for Class IV. Here, C2 and C3 rates are nearly the same, with C1 rates still lagging behind. Again, the total disparity between all three sets of rates is diminished at every step. C3 rates still remain higher than C1 and C2 rates.

Current PhD Rate Comparison

Class V ("Column 5") on each salary schedule applies to FT faculty who hold at least a doctorate. Currently, C1 and C2 daily/hourly rates lag behind C3 rates as they do in Class II and IV above.

Post-Ratification PhD Rate Comparison

If this agreement is ratified, the figure below reflects the pay rates for Class V. Again, the total disparity between all three sets of rates is diminished at every step while C3 rates still remain higher than C1 and C2 rates.

Additional Benefits of the New Tentative Agreement

Free Federation Office (Article 3): Federation member dues will no longer be necessary to fund the annual rent of our on campus office. The Federation and District have agreed that the office shall be provided free of charge for the term of this agreement, saving all of our members money.
Reduced Mandatory On-Campus Days (Article 8): FT instructional faculty will now have a mandatory on-campus minimum number of workdays reduced from 3 to 2 days per week.
Improvements to Dual Enrollment Stipends (Article 8/29): Stipends related to off-campus dual enrollment assignments are augmented.
Department Chairs (Article 25/30): We've agreed on procedures for department chairs, something notably missing in our District. The Federation and District will negotiate compensation terms prior to implementation.
Paid PT Faculty Jury Duty (Article 11): PT faculty will have the same rights to paid leave for the purposes of jury duty as FT faculty.
Faster PT Faculty Sick Leave Accrual (Article 11): PT faculty will accrue significantly more sick leave per hour/assignment worked than currently, aligning us better with our peers.

Open Article Proposals (Prior to Mediation)

Tentative Agreements For This Contract

The District and Federation have tentatively agreed upon the changes to the articles below. Tentative agreements do not go into effect until the contract is signed and ratified by both Federation membership and the ECC Board of Trustees. Any bold/underlined language in these tentative agreements represents modified contract language.

Current Tentative Agreements for 2025 CBA

Summary of tentative changes to each article

Ground Rules (in effect only for February 14, 2025)

Ground Rules for Open Bargaining (in effect only for Articles 10 and 17)

Global Renumbering: Updated and improved numbering system for our contract.

Supplemental Renumbering: Updated specific articles with new numbering system.

PT Faculty Healthcare MOU: Updated and augmented current PT faculty healthcare premium reimbursement program.

Appendix B (Faculty Load): The language in this Appendix was relocated to more accessible and logical places in Articles 8 and 10. Any changes are noted in the destination articles.

Article 3 (Rights of the Federation): Federation office usage will be free. Member dues money will no longer have to be used to cover annual rent.

Article 4 (Intracollegiate Relations): Clarified language and process for Faculty Handbook and where it is available.

Article 5 (Academic Freedom and Responsibility): Updated numbering.

Article 6 (Classification of Faculty Members): Updated language in accordance with statute.

Article 8 (Hours and Working Conditions): Standardized language around workloads and contracts to be consistent with existing contract language in Appendix B and Article 10. Reduced contact hour workloads (h/LHE) for SHS and SRC in better alignment with job demands and our peers. All other workloads remain unchanged. Reduction in minimum required days per week for instructional faculty. Reduction in required Fall PD Day hours for FT faculty. Increased paid PD hours for PT faculty. RPL improvements and clarifications. Separation of various sections into new articles (26-30). Introduced language for department chairs.

Article 9 (Winter/Summer Assignments): Updated language surrounding certain Library assignments to reflect existing practice.

Article 10 (Compensation): 2.6% raise or stipend to all faculty rates and schedules. Decreased FT pay rate disparity. New Step 7 for PT faculty. Revenue sharing model planned for years 2 and 3 of agreement. More step credit available to new hires. Better notifications regarding PT assignments.

Article 11 (Paid Leaves): PT faculty now eligible to claim paid leave for jury duty under the same provisions as FT faculty. Substantially increased the rate of sick leave accrual for PT faculty.

Article 12 (Unpaid Leaves): Updated numbering.

Article 13 (Sabbatical Leaves): Updated numbering.

Article 15 (Holidays): Updated a holiday name.

Article 17 (Insurance Benefits): Substantially increased FT healthcare District caps, especially for 2-Party and Family enrollees. Modest increases to non-dependent electing faculty stipends. Healthy increase to total and individual funding for current PT healthcare premium reimbursement program MOU. PT access to FT healthcare to be negotiated immediately after ratification.

Article 18 (Pre-Retirement Program): Updated language to comply with current CalSTRS and PERS statutes.

Article 20 (Procedures for Faculty Evaluation): Updated numbering.

Article 21 (General Provisions): Updated language for TB tests.

Article 22 (Grievances): Updated/modernized procedure for missed timelines during grievance process.

Article 23 (Work Stoppage): We have eliminated legacy language that truncated our labor rights beyond what current laws require. The article is now consistent with work stoppage articles at community colleges across the state and current legal limitations.

Article 24 (Instructional Technology): Updated language to reflect current course structure and practices.

Article 25 (Agreement Conditions and Duration): Updated effective dates of contract. This article will be renumbered as Article 30 (final article of agreement) upon ratification.

Article 26 (Lecture Lab Parity): Previously a subsection of Article 8.

Article 27 (College and Division Load Review Committees): Previously a subsection of Article 8.

Article 28 (Part-time Faculty Members Reemployment Preference): Previously a subsection of Article 8.

Article 29 (Dual Enrollment): Previously a subsection of Article 8.

Article 30 (Department Chairs): New article outlining the procedures and duties of department chairs. The Federation and District will negotiate chair compensation prior to implementation. This article will be renumbered as Article 25 upon ratification.

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