Faculty Union Chief Leaves Fiery Legacy

The classic hallmarks of academia are all there: the professorial demeanor, the PhD, the rumpled sweater.

But during his four years as president of the Ventura County Community College District’s faculty union, Larry Miller was ready to roll up his sleeves and fight like an old-fashioned union man.

His recently ended tenure as head of the local chapter of the California Federation of Teachers will probably be best remembered for a nearly 17-month labor dispute. That period, from March 1997 through July 1998, was marked by picketing, rallies and a sickout. The teachers came perilously close to striking, but a walkout was averted because, Miller said, too many faculty members were “wimps” who feared taking such action.

“Larry reminds me of my days with the auto workers . . . and the gritty toughness of union people,” said Hank Lacayo, formerly a political director for the United Auto Workers in Detroit, and now chairman of the county’s Democratic Central Committee.

Without the muscle of a strike after months of stalled contract negotiations, the union agreed to major salary concessions by teachers.

While Miller concedes that the district’s 1,500 teachers are working under a weaker collective bargaining agreement than he hoped for, he says the union is larger and stronger because of the negotiations.

“Because of what we went through, more people got involved,” said Miller, 60, who has taught biology at Moorpark College for 28 years.

But friends and supporters say that Miller’s tenure also strengthened the hand of the local labor movement, because for the first time in the history of the county, the teachers’ union joined ranks with other labor unions to push for political victories.

Faculty members walked precincts and worked phone banks with construction workers and pipe fitters last year to push for the election of Gov. Gray Davis and the defeat of Proposition 226, which would have required unions to get permission from members before spending union dues on political activities.

“We could never get the teachers involved before,” said Bob Guillen, executive secretary of the 7,000-member Ventura County Building Trades Council.

Marilyn Valenzuela, executive secretary of the Tri-Counties Labor Council, said Miller’s involvement added to the local labor movement’s power.

“He created an environment where we could work together for a more cohesive labor movement,” she said.

In October, the labor council honored Miller as one of two labor leaders of the year.

Miller said previous presidents of the union saw the members of the faculty only as a professional group, rather than as part of a larger union movement.

“I saw that the more people you had behind you--the more people you know--that would make us much stronger,” he said.

At the time of strike preparations, Miller said, he had received promises from both construction workers and employees of United Parcel Service Inc. that they would not cross the teachers’ picket line at the district’s three campuses.

“We would have shut down all construction and all deliveries across the district,” he said.

Despite his dedication, Miller decided earlier this year to pass the reins of the union to a different leader.

“It’s not good for the union to have dynasties,” he said.

Still, he plans to stay involved with union activities. “There is no way I’m going to hand over 100% of anything to anybody.”

Jack Miller, a political science instructor at Moorpark College, was elected union president earlier this month on promises to work for good relations with the district management.

“Larry served under a time of enormous pressure,” said the 43-year-old new president. “I hope it will be easier for me, and I can reap the rewards of his work.”

Community college trustee Pete Tafoya said he was sorry to see Larry Miller go. He said he knew that Miller, who campaigned against Tafoya’s reelection last year, had the best interests of the faculty at heart during more than a year of contentious negotiations.

“But with a new relationship, you get a new perspective,” Tafoya said. “Maybe we will mend fences if nothing else, it was pretty hard on the last go-round.”

District Chancellor Philip Westin said he hopes for improved relations with the union as well, and he credits Larry Miller for recently helping to thaw icy tensions between faculty and district management. The two sides began preliminary discussions over minor matters in the fall semester, including evaluation forms and class assignments.

“On his watch, we started working together . . . and we’re making good progress, and hopefully we’ll continue that,” Westin said.

Taking a page from recent international news, the union’s former chief negotiator, Elton Hall, compared the slightly warmed relations between the district and union to the decision by sworn enemies Israel and Syria to meet.

“There’s a lot of history there, so you know it’s going to be slow and hard,” Hall said. “But at least both sides are talking to each other . . . given a year and a half ago, it would have been stunning.”