FACULTY MEMBERS finally got a much-awaited bonanza under a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the University to last until 2011 — with bonuses, backpay, salary adjustments and other benefits amounting to a windfall of anywhere from P100,000 to more than P280,000 for each mentor with a 24-unit load.
The new CBA, formally ratified by faculty members through a vote called by the UST Faculty Union last July 23, includes the distribution of millions that went to coaches’ salaries since 2001, sought by the union during negotiations after coaches were reclassified by the administration as consultants instead of faculty members.
It took two years to negotiate a new CBA for the University’s 1,500-strong teaching force after the previous one expired in 2006, and this meant a hefty backpay since faculty pay for academic years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 were not adjusted during the interregnum.
Upon ratification, faculty members got a P15,000 signing bonus and a P5,000 goodwill bonus. “UST cannot afford the P15,000 we are asking for the goodwill bonus. Instead, it will give P5,000, while 15,000 will be the signing bonus,” said Dr. Gil Gamilla, the faculty union chief.
For backpay covering academic year 2006-2007, nearly P60 million was to be distributed, representing half of the coaches’ salaries (P7.9 million) and more than P51 million in tuition increases.
The distribution was to be across-the-board, or a uniform P87.50 per unit for all faculty members, translating to P27,298.68 for a year’s worth of backpay for faculty members with a 24-unit load.
For academic year 2007-2008, faculty members were to get salary adjustments depending on rank, with instructors teaching 24 units getting around P40,000 each and full professors getting more than P135,000 each for a full year’s worth of backpay. In addition, a one-time interest payment on the 2007-2008 backpay, P9.70 per unit, was granted. The adjustments came from more than P117 million in tuition increases collected last academic year.
This academic year will see faculty members getting a salary increase of P42.58 a unit per month across the board over the adjusted 2007-2008 salary scale, or P1,032.27 a month for mentors with a a 24-unit load. This is smaller than the P177 per unit adjustment in the previous CBA.
Associate and full professors are paid for 27 units, regardless of the actual load, said union spokesman Gil Garcia.
There are other perks like rice and clothing benefits, which were increased by P500 per sack and P1,000 per annum, respectively.
Under the old CBA, a faculty member with at least 15 units was entitled to rice allowance of P1,000 every other month, equivalent to one sack of rice; while tenured mentors were entitled to a P1,500 clothing allowance per semester.
According to the new CBA, every faculty member is entitled to a meal allowance of P95 a day for six school days a week, a new benefit.
The remaining 50 percent of the coaches’ salaries will be released in December.
Under a two-decade-old law regulating private schools, 70 percent of additional collections from tuition increases must go to salaries and benefits of teaching and non-teaching personnel, while 20 percent must be allotted for improvements in school facilities.
Retirement provision
Gamilla said the new CBA will grant early retirement pay only to faculty members who have worked for ten years, but added that the Rector may extend “magnanimity” to those who do not meet the requirement. The union wanted retirement pay for only five years of service. Gamilla said it was agreed to follow what the law requires.
“It will still be up to the Rector if he would still want to extend magnanimity to the faculty. But what is in the new CBA will be an early retirement pay after ten years of service,” he said.
A re-negotiation will take place between the union and UST next year to evaluate the CBA’S effectiveness and address any loopholes. Prinz P. Magtulis
