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# College workers happily take hike
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/college-workers-happily-take-hike/
- Published: 2005-08-04T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:32:43.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*SMC professors still hammering out deal*

SMC — Santa Monica College has approved salary increases for hundreds of employees who have not had a raise in years — a bone of contention between officials and workers in the recent past.

SMC’s board of trustees unanimously approved a 2-percent raise on Monday that will apply to 743 administrators and support staff. The raise will be retroactive from Jan. 1 and will continue through December. In addition, the employees will receive a 3.5-percent pay increase beginning January of 2006 which will be good through December of next year.

More than 662 SMC support staff, which includes everyone from clerical assistants to gardeners to security personnel, are affected by the raise. So are 81 college administrators and managers.

None of the groups have had a raise since at least January of 2002.

Not qualifying for the raise is SMC faculty. Their union officials are still negotiating with college officials for a new agreement.

College officials are optimistic those negotiations will be concluded shortly. Faculty union officials, representing more than 1,200 full-and part-time professors, didn’t return calls by press time.

SMC spokesman Bruce Smith said the 2-percent, retroactive portion of the raise would likely be reflected in employee paychecks in coming weeks as one lump sum that dates back to January. After that is disbursed, the 2-percent hike will be spread evenly over the remainder of the year.

The past three years have been tumultuous for SMC administrators, who have made severe budget cutbacks, and as a result have faced criticism from faculty and staff about how they’ve handled the financial setbacks.

SMC has been put on the state’s watch list of colleges with severe fiscal problems. In 2003, SMC’s Academic Senate approved a no-confidence motion in Piedad Robertson, then the college’s president. The college also cut 26 percent of its classes, which translated into a loss of about 6,000 students, or 17 percent of its student body, Smith said. By cutting a handful of academic programs, some critics suggest SMC prevented many students from returning this year.

College officials found themselves in a difficult position because they were trying to rebound from cuts and grow at the same time.

Carol Currey, chair of SMC’s board of trustees, said she was glad a raise was approved for the employees.

“They definitely deserved it,” Currey said. “It has helped morale, for them and us, too. It goes both ways.

“I hope we can bring something forward to the faculty, so everyone can enjoy good times again.”

Currey warned SMC’s difficult financial period is not over. However, she and other college officials agree SMC has benefited from the state budget approved last month.

The total salary increase will cost the college $5.16 million. To cover the raises, Smith said, SMC received $3.6 million in equalization funding last year, plus another $4.6 million this year. The state budget added a 4.2-percent cost-of-living adjustment for community colleges, which also helped, Smith said.

The California School Employees Association Chapter 36, representing SMC’s support staff, voted unanimously in favor of the new contract (239-0) on July 20\. With a total of 360 members, 67 percent participated in the vote.

Under the agreement, CSEA officials agree to continue to explore health plans that will provide high-quality care to SMC’s support staff, while looking at ways that might cut costs for the college.

Bernie Rosenloecher, a SMC carpenter, vice president of the CSEA, and chair of the contract negotiating committee, said he was pleased with the agreement, noting its unanimous approval by trustees and union members.

“I’m positive about it,” Rosenloecher said. “It shows the relationship is moving in the right direction.”

Quality health care, which he said is the primary concern of CSEA members, has been maintained with the new contract. Language which was vague in the old contract also has been clarified in the new pact.

Rosenloecher was part of a five-person panel of fellow support staff who met with college attorneys on more than 80 occasions in efforts to settle the contract.

“Sometimes we met for three hours, sometimes we met for eight hours, sometimes we met on weekends,” Rosenloecher said.

New leadership among the CSEA also helped to rebuild relationships with the district, helping to expedite the agreement.

In addition to the raise, SMC support staff receive another paid holiday, Cesar Chavez Day, in honor of the labor rights’ advocate, which will be celebrated the first Monday of spring break.

“I’m glad they are recognizing it as a holiday,” Rosenloecher said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 4, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080405.pdf?ref=smdp.com)