College, union reach contract settlement

Successful mediation on July 2 confirmed by union votes on July 17

Oregon Coast Community College and its staff and faculty have settled five-year contracts for both employee bargaining units.

Presently at OCCC, there is one union, the American Federation of Teachers – Oregon,  representing a bargaining unit for faculty (full-time and part-time) as well as a bargaining unit for classified employees. The faculty and classified bargaining units each have their own collective bargaining agreement (CBA). On July 17, the College and the faculty and classified bargaining units settled on new five-year CBAs, retroactive to July 1, 2023.

After over a year of bargaining, the College had presented a full package proposal for a successor agreement to Union representatives on April 22, 2024 for the Classified contract and May 2, 2024 for the Faculty contract. The College and Union then met for mediation facilitated by the Oregon Employment Relations Board on July 2, 2024.  Mediation began at around 8 a.m. – and ended about 1 a.m. on July 3.  

“While the College’s bargaining team certainly hoped to come to an agreement well before now, we believe the settled agreements balance our fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers with unwavering support of our valued employees,” said OCCC President, Dr. Birgitte Ryslinge. “We bargained in good faith and will continue to do so in future years, recognizing the constraints we face as arguably the smallest community college in Oregon – as well as our responsibility to prepare for uncertainty in the broader economy in the future. The College can use only two revenue sources to pay for compensation and benefits, those are taxpayers and students, through tuition. We have responsibility to both groups, and particularly to keep college affordable – and, by extension, to not create excessive reliance on student loans.”

Ryslinge noted that the College, which spends 67.5% of its budget currently on personnel services, offers a robust benefits package to any employees working greater than half-time (on a pro-rated basis for employees working less than 40 hours per week). As Oregon public employees, OCCC employees also earn credit every year towards a pension, which is increasingly rare in private industry. Among other benefits are a contribution of 6% of earnings into IAP (Individual Account Program) similar to a 401(k), fully paid by the College. These employees receive 13 paid holidays and a minimum of 12 paid vacation days (pro-rated) and 2 paid personal days (pro-rated), plus a robust health insurance benefit plan that ranges in value (depending on plan) from $7,800 to $21,667 annually.

Key elements in the settlement between the Unions and the College include:

Compensation (for Classified and Full-time and ¾-time Faculty)

• Combination of length-of-service increases and cost-of-living adjustments totaling 31% increase over five years
  • FY ’23-24: 6% total increase, retroactive to July 1, 2023
  • FY ’24-25: 10% total increase, effective July 1, 2024
  • FY ’25-26: 5% total increase
  • FY ’26-27: 5% total increase
  • FY ’27-28: 5% total increase

Compensation (for Part-Time Faculty)

• 21% cost-of-living increase combined with 2.5% step (length-of-service) advancement (based on a point system) for a potential increase of 33.5% over five years.

“OCCC steadfastly supports our employees’ right to organize, and we appreciate the hard work the Union’s bargaining team has invested in this process over these past months,” Ryslinge said. “Now, as ever, we’re excited to be moving forward into the new academic year laser-focused on providing an excellent experience for our students.”

Oregon Coast Community College serves Lincoln County at four locations – in Newport, Toledo, Waldport, and Lincoln City. The College offers two-year transfer and associate degrees as well as a rich assortment of career-focused certificate programs. Learn more at oregoncoast.edu.