Countywide : Teachers Union Seeking Pay Increase

The teachers union at the Ventura County Community College District is seeking a 10% salary increase and more medical benefits, but the district’s board president on Wednesday called the request “dead on delivery.”

Union officials asked for the increase Tuesday at the college district’s board meeting. Contract negotiations between the faculty and trustees officially began at the meeting when union officials submitted their proposal to the trustees. The union, American Federation of Teachers Local 1828, and district officials will try to settle on a three-year contract for about 750 part- and 410 full-time teachers at Oxnard, Ventura and Moorpark colleges.

In addition to pay increases and health benefits, the union’s proposal calls for doubling the number of sabbatical leaves, reducing class sizes and cutting back teaching hours. Teachers have not received a pay raise for three years, union officials said.

Trustees are not expected to respond with a counter proposal until next month, but board President Gregory P. Cole said the union’s demands “are not even close.”

Cole said the district does not have enough money to fund a pay increase and is in favor of limiting health benefits.

Union President Barbara Hoffman has said in earlier interviews that faculty members may strike in the spring if negotiations break down.