College reaches contract with faculty union

BARSTOW — Barstow Community College faculty members will receive a 12 percent pay increase over two years in a agreement announced Thursday at a meeting of the college’s board of trustees.

Members of the Barstow College Faculty Association have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006. Full-time faculty members currently earn a base salary ranging from $39,000 to $81,000 depending on experience, in addition to insurance and other benefits.

Eva Bagg, an instructor at the college and representative of the union, said the majority of faculty support the new contract. She said that BCC has ranked relatively low on the pay scale for its instructors compared to other schools.

“We understand that to attract and retain good faculty and staff, we need to pay more,” she said.

BCC President Cliff Brock said that it took some time to reach an agreement, but he’s in favor of the new contract.

“It took a lot of negotiations, but I’m happy with it,” Brock said.

Now that the faculty pay agreement has been reached, the administration’s attention will turn to negotiating a contract with the school’s staff members which support college operations. The California School Employees’ Association, which represents staff, is under contract until June 30, 2008.

Lillian Justice, president of the association and financial aid officer at the college, said that the union has submitted a draft agreement to the administration and negotiations could begin in the coming months. Citing ongoing negotiations, she declined to state what issues were being discussed. Justice, a nine-year employee and BCC graduate will leave the college in the coming weeks to take a position at Long Beach City College. She said that for her and many college employees, pay and benefits weren’t the only issues important to them and cited dissatisfaction with college leadership as part of her reason for leaving.

“It’s not about getting raises. It’s not about layoffs or anything like that. It’s about doing what’s best for the college, and the community and the leadership has shown us that they aren’t interested in that,” she said.

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