Education : Cerritos Professors Protest Proposed Overtime Pay Cut

More than 100 angry Cerritos College teachers packed Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Trustees to protest a proposal that would reduce teachers’ overtime and summer school pay.

The plan would end the current practice of basing pay for summer or overtime assignments on a teacher’s regular salary. An alternative payment plan has yet to be devised, but the goal is to lower costs by reducing what teachers would receive. The Board of Trustees would have to approve the change.

Faculty members learned of the proposed pay cut in a May 28 letter to college staff members from President Ernest A. Martinez. The administration should have negotiated the matter with faculty representatives in advance, as is customary, instructor Wendell Hanks told the board.

Martinez and board members would not comment on the plan, but in the letter, Martinez said budget reductions are needed to offset decreased state funding. In addition to changing pay rates, he proposed having administrators teach one class apiece without additional pay.

Some faculty members said they would lead a union membership drive. Cerritos College is the only community college without a faculty union in Southern California, school officials said.