College Faculty Upset by Stalled Pay Talks

Irate faculty members have publicly taken trustees of the Ventura County Community College District to task for failing to give teachers a pay raise.

More than 100 faculty members, many waving picket signs and chanting, “Settle now, settle now,” crammed the district boardroom Tuesday night to protest their stalled contract negotiations with district officials.

“I think it’s time you asked yourself, ‘Why are (the teachers) here, why are they upset with me, could it be that I am missing the point?’ ” Margaret Edwards, a music teacher at Ventura College, told the trustees.

The district and teachers have been at in impasse over contract negotiations for months. Teachers, who receive the same salaries as they did in 1991, are demanding a cost-of-living adjustment and a 3% salary increase. Administrators and trustees insist that the financially strapped district cannot find such funds. They want to maintain the faculty’s current salaries and cut back on health benefits.

In the past three weeks, disgruntled teachers have walked out of routine district-level meetings and held “sickouts” in an attempt to slow district operations. Last week, faculty members held informational pickets on the three campuses to let their students know why they are at odds with administrators.

The district’s classified employees also showed up at Tuesday night’s meeting to protest their slow-moving contract negotiations. Although those negotiations are not yet at an impasse, district officials and union members have been debating that contract since early May.

As with faculty members, classified employees and district officials cannot agree on salary and benefit issues.