Kirkwood, faculty group open contract negotiations

CEDAR RAPIDS - The bargaining group that represents Kirkwood Community College faculty opened contract negotiations Tuesday with a proposal for a 6 percent salary increase next year.

The negotiation team that represents the Kirkwood administration then followed with its proposal for a 0.5 percent increase to salary and a 0.6 percent increase to the retirement contribution, for a 1.1 percent increase overall.

After the public meeting Tuesday to open 2012-13 contract negotiations, the two sides now will continue negotiations in closed-session meetings until a new contract is agreed upon.

Both sides said insurance costs and potential rate increases are unknown yet, so they did not include them in their opening proposals.

“We also are mindful of controlling costs, especially when it comes to insurance,” Bob Freeman, chief negotiator for the administration, said during his presentation.

Freeman said after the proposals that neither side presented anything he would consider to be big changes or surprises for the contract.

The Kirkwood Faculty Association represents the college's nearly 300 faculty in the contract negotiations. Faculty Association Chief Negotiator John Dawson, from the math and geology faculty, said the 6 percent salary increase request is an opening number, and any discussion beyond that is “part of the negotiations.”

Faculty this year received a 3.49 percent total package increase to salary and benefits.

The 2012-13 opening proposal from the Kirkwood administration also includes a change to the contract dates. Faculty contracts now start Sept. 1 of each year, and the administration is proposing to move the contract start to July 1, to mirror the college's fiscal year.