Dive Brief:

• Pensacola State College faculty members have voted against a proposed labor contract because it would increase class loads for teachers and the time required to qualify for a promotion.
• The faculty union has been negotiating with the college’s administration since February 2013 for a new contract. With the vote, the 2012-2013 contract remains in place.
• About 55% of the voting faculty members voted against the proposed contract, even though it included a 2% pay raise for all employees.

Dive Insight:

College president Ed Meadows told the Pensacola News Journal that the contract rejection was the first during his tenure at Pensacola. In addition to the raise, the contract offered $120,000 to compensate for compression, or when a new hire comes in at a higher salary than that of existing staff. One of the most contentious issues in the proposed contract was the calculation of load point values, which determine when a teacher has a full course load. The proposal would have reduced load point values for certain courses, requiring professors to teach more courses.