Settlement on College Faculty Pact May Be Near

Community college trustees on Tuesday postponed action on strike preparations as faculty union leaders and college district management suggested a settlement of their bitter contract dispute may be near.

Ventura Community College District trustees were scheduled to consider a resolution that would have given district Chancellor Philip Westin permission to hire part-time teachers to replace those on strike and security guards to patrol the district’s three campuses.

At Westin’s request, the resolution was pulled without discussion from the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting at Camarillo Airport’s Cowan Conference Center.

“Pulling the item is a statement in itself,” Deputy Chancellor Mike Gregoryk, the district’s chief negotiator, said after the meeting. “We want a settlement with our faculty.”

Westin said management would meet with the union--which represents 1,400 teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians on the campuses--before the resolution comes back to trustees at a special meeting July 28.

The move to continue negotiations came after the Ventura branch of the California Federation of College Teachers’ chief negotiator sent district officials a letter complaining management was failing to bargain in good faith.

“I need not remind you that ‘negotiation’ does not mean ‘agree with the district,’ ” Elton Hall wrote. “And you are aware that we are compelled under law to negotiate until a settlement is reached.”

Tuesday night, Hall said he was encouraged by the district’s move to delay discussion of hiring part-time replacement teachers.

“It means they are leaving the door open for further negotiations,” Hall said.

In the 17-month dispute, district officials had fought to eliminate guaranteed work for part-time employees, allow administrators to visit classrooms to perform evaluations and give district officials, rather than faculty members, the power to select department heads.

Teachers had been willing to relinquish those rights if district officials had agreed to a 5.7% raise, the amount an independent fact-finder had suggested in May.

On Monday, district officials offered what they termed their best settlement proposal and gave teachers a 2 p.m. deadline to accept it. Teachers dismissed the offer as “a slap in the face.”

Last week, teachers submitted a counterproposal that included what they called major compromises. It called for a 2.9% pay raise for teachers, far below the 5.7% raise teachers initially sought.

Teachers were also willing to relinquish job security rights for part-time employees, a major sticking point during negotiations, said Larry Miller, the teacher union’s president.

But district officials balked at those terms and walked out of the bargaining meeting without scheduling a session to continue negotiations, he said.

On Tuesday night, Miller said he was cautiously optimistic.

“We hope we don’t have to strike,” he said. “We hope they see the error in their ways.”

While negotiations continue, the union will hold a demonstration at Constitution Park in Camarillo beginning at 6 p.m. on July 18.

“Everyone is invited,” Miller said. “Teachers, other faculty members and classified. It’s a rally to show support and unity.”

If union members vote to strike, a walkout would most likely occur when fall semester classes begin, Miller said.