FULLERTON : College District Gives Faculty Pay Increase

Nearly a year of rancorous labor negotiations ended last week when trustees of the North Orange County Community College District imposed a 5.5% pay increase for faculty members.

The salary increase and other increased benefits were part of a package recommended by a fact-finding committee that was called in when negotiations broke down earlier this year. The pay hike approved by the trustees last week will be retroactive to April 10, district spokeswoman Donna Hatchett said.

When salary negotiations first began last July, district officials offered a 2.5% increase, while faculty members sought as much as 6%. When averaged over the entire school year, the actual increase granted by trustees now amounts to 1.34% for the approximately 1,700 full- and part-time faculty at the district’s two colleges, Cypress and Fullerton, and its adult education program.

Under the new salary schedule, annual pay for full-time instructors will range from a starting salary of $28,384 to $58,190 for faculty with a doctorate and more than 20 years with the district, officials said. Previously, salaries ranged from $26,904 to $55,156.

Last week, faculty negotiators unsuccessfully sought to roll back the effective date to Feb. 1. But trustees refused to budge from the April 10 date, said faculty negotiator Tony Jones, who runs Cypress College’s auto collision repair program.

“We’re unhappy because (the pay hike and benefits were) unilaterally imposed,” Jones said. “We tried to work on an agreement that would have been a bilateral one, but we were turned down flat. . . . It signals tough times ahead.”

The district has already pared $3.7 million from its 1991-92 budget of about $100 million and has cut summer school by 50%. Trustees also voted last week to eliminate four top administrative positions. Previously, they had laid off 10 classified employees.

The new job cuts will send the district’s assistant chancellor for instructional services and his top deputy back to the classroom after June 30.

Hatchett said the district will have to make additional cuts to make up for the salary increases and other elements of the package approved last Tuesday.

The $768,000 package also includes a 10% increase in fringe benefits and compensation for coaches and choral and theatrical directors who have been working additional hours without extra pay. Those instructors will receive compensation retroactive to last July.