Glendale College Workers Vote to End Merit System
Workers at Glendale Community College have voted to scrap the merit system that regulated hiring, firing and promotion of the college’s clerical, custodial and other non-faculty employees, school officials announced Wednesday.
One-hundred and fifty-nine of the college’s 243 classified workers voted to overturn the system. The change takes effect July 1.
The merit system was run by a three-member commission that oversaw hiring and testing procedures, promotions and employee complaints. The appointed commissioners operated independently of the Board of Education and the district superintendent.
The system had been in place at the college since 1981 when residents voted to separate the institution from the Glendale Unified School District, where the system has been in effect for 24 years.
“We don’t need the merit system,” said Carolyn Payne, chairwoman of the Equitable Personnel Practices Task Force, an advisory committee that worked to overturn the merit system. “With the merit system, we had problem areas in testing, interviewing and hiring. They worked against us more often than for us.”
Payne said personnel matters can now be handled more efficiently by the college’s board of trustees working with Supt. John A. Davitt. “We will now have one governing body for handling personnel problems,” she said.
A similar attempt in March to overturn the merit system in the Glendale Unified School District fell 66 votes short of the majority required.
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