Budget may determine pay
SMC — The lesson of the day is union organization, as professors plan to hold the first of a series of rallies today aimed at drawing attention to a contentious contract dispute between faculty and administrators.
Professors plan to march from the main campus to the college’s administrative headquarters each day until the board of trustees’ next meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 5, said Mitra Moassessi, a math professor at SMC and chief negotiator for the Santa Monica College Faculty Association.
“They’re always complaining that they don’t have the money, but we have statements showing the district has come into a lot of money in the last few years,” Moassessi said. “All we are asking for is what was given to administrators during that time.”
The association and SMC have been at the bargaining table since September 2004. Most issues have been resolved, including health care, which the college has agreed to cover completely.
But a deal hasn’t been reached regarding pay. Professors are seeking a 2-percent raise on top of the 3.5 percent the college has offered. Moassessi said a combined 5.5 percent raise would put faculty on par with administrators, who received similar raises last year.
Robert Sammis, the college’s chief negotiator and vice president of planning and development, sees it differently. Sammis maintains that faculty already received a 2-percent raise in 2002, and that a 2-percent raise for staff and administrators in 2005 evened the score. have already been brought into equity,” Sammis said. “We have agreed to pick up 100 percent of their health care costs. Nobody does that anymore.”
Moassessi said she is skeptical of the salary hike claim, pointing to years past when faculty worked without a contract and did not receive salary increases at the same rate as others.
Ultimately, it is the trustees who must decide what is fair.
Dr. Nancy Greenstein, president of the board of trustees, said the board is concerned about the lack of a final contract and sympathizes with the faculty’s frustration. However, the board is waiting for the new president, Dr. Chui Tsang, to prepare a budget forecast so it can determine what the financial impact of a 5.5-percent raise would have on the college’s budget.
“We are very committed to have a budget that is transparent and that everyone agrees reflects the health of the district and also the debt of the district,” Greenstein said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 25, 2006. Read the original PDF.