Workers at Community Colleges OK 4-day week

Officials hope move will cut costs over the summer

By Jean Cowden Moore 
Ventura County Star - Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Workers at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges have agreed to work a four-day, 40-hour week over the summer, hoping to save the college district enough money to avoid layoffs.

The move is in response to state budget cuts and a request from Ventura County Community College District officials, said Blanca Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents the colleges’ maintenance and cafeteria workers as well as instructional assistants.

“The workers feel they need to make small sacrifices to prevent bigger cuts,” Gallegos said Tuesday.

The arrangement calls for 10-hour shifts Mondays through Thursdays from May 25 through Aug. 7. Workers also have the option of working a shorter day and using vacation time to make up the difference.

The move will not affect faculty members or students, because the three colleges normally don’t hold classes on Fridays during the summer, said Patricia Parham, vice chancellor of human resources.

The shorter workweek, however, will allow the district to close offices on Fridays and save up to 15 percent in energy and maintenance costs.

The district office proposed the shorter workweek when gas prices were high, also hoping to save workers some commuting costs, Parham said. “We did this when gas was $4 a gallon,” she said. “We wanted to give something to them as well.”

About 86 percent of union members who voted approved the move, said Jim Crowley, a warehouse worker at Moorpark College. “We’re not certain what’s going to happen, but we want to cooperate if it means saving jobs,” Crowley said.

If state funding proves to be better than expected, workers could review the move, Gallegos said. The state is facing a projected $42 billion budget deficit, and deep cuts to education are anticipated.