For the past nine months, members of the California Schools Employees Association at Citrus — a group that includes library staff, Campus Safety officers, custodians and other non-faculty employees — have demanded pay increases.
Administrative stonewalling has prevented any meaningful compromise.
In light of the impasse recently declared in the negotiations, the college administration has degraded its legitimacy by refusing to meet staff demands for fair pay and equitable treatment.
The college administration needs to show more respect for its employees by agreeing to better treatment and fair pay.
The work of staff is just as vital to the success of students and the institution as a whole as the work of anyone else.
Everyone in the Citrus community, including administration, depends on the work of classified staff to complete tasks efficiently.
The staff works behind-the-scenes to ensure the institution’s day-to-day needs are met and maintained.
Filing student records, ordering supplies, maintaining facilities and campus grounds are jobs that ultimately benefit the entire campus.
Many of these workers assume burdensome responsibilities as they fulfill the needs of understaffed departments, too.
Campus Safety, which is responsible for protecting the entire college, only has one officer on duty during certain shifts.
Officers risk their own safety to secure the safety of students, employees and campus property. In an emergency, people first turn to the Campus Safety officers for help as happened last week when a male bathroom intruder entered a women’s restroom for the third time this month.
Chief District Negotiator and Director of Human Resources Robert Sammis said Campus Safety is not supposed to intervene.
Reducing the Campus Safety department’s responsibility to just being “eyes and ears” dismisses and devalues the risks officers face to protect the campus community.
This attitude is not isolated to the work of campus safety.
The former Director of the Veterans Success Center Monica Christianson was upset at the college for how she was treated, also.
Under Christianson’s leadership, the Veterans Success Center saw unprecedented achievement and growth. She invested her time and energy to improving the campus because she enjoyed working with students and seeing them succeed.
But after 11 years of service to the college and to students’ success, Christianson left because college officials never made her a permanent employee.
She said she felt unappreciated for her hard work and love for the campus.
Many employees share the same sentiment as Christianson. They love the campus and work their hardest to see students succeed.
Staff and faculty work just as hard as any to see the college rank highly in state in student success. They deserve recognition with higher wages.
It is unfair that top-level administrators have received pay raises while saying there is not enough money for wage increases for staff.
First, the district’s position is inconsistent — to advocate for one’s own raise for a job well-done while denying the same recognition to those who are equally invested in the institution’s success.
If there is enough money for raises for highly paid administrative officials, then there is enough money for higher wages for employees.
Second, the college has a general reserve fund from which it can distribute pay and wider staffing. According to the minutes from the Aug. 21, Board of Trustees meeting, the current balance in the general fund is about $19 million.
While it may be reasonable to set aside money for a rainy day, it is no less reasonable to ask the district use money for employee raises.
That money should first go towards staff pay raises before any other projects because the desires of the staff are more important.
That Citrus College is a relatively small district in California but has administrators who are some of the highest paid statewide is unsettling.
The Association of California Community College’s Salary Survey shows that President Geraldine Perri was paid upwards of $325 thousand in 2017. She is the second highest paid worker in any single district community college.
Juxtapose her salary with the average pay of staff which is the lowest among nearby community colleges.
There is no reason Citrus should refuse CSEA demands. The administration cannot in good conscience say there is not enough money for wage increases when top-level administrators are some of the highest paid throughout California.
Any effort by administrative personnel to dismiss CSEA demands sends the wrong message to campus employees and undermines their value as workers.
If the district does not accept CSEA provisions, the college could see low morale rising, and the administration could have a strike.
