Negotiations at Antelope Valley College went late into the night on June 22, when AVC Superintendent Jennifer Zellet and AFT Local 4683 President Pamela Ford put the last touches on a contract for 240 members of the Antelope Valley College Federation of Classified Employees.

Salaries were the main issue at the table. Staff will receive an retroactive raise and increases.

The district will increase contributions to employee benefits, retroactive to October 2022.

“The last administration saw everything as a fight, and every fight as winner-take-all.” Ford said. “We have a new president who wants to put the past behind her. Things aren’t perfect, but circumstances are better than they were.”

Ford said she and Dr. Zellet are “working together to move barriers out of the way.”

The litmus test will be whether the district finally honors a 2019 ruling by the California Supreme Court. In 2014, the administration unilaterally changed employees’ work schedules without first obtaining their approval, as required by the contract. The local filed an unfair labor practice charge before PERB seeking back pay for employees and a return to their original work schedules.

Union attorney David Conway said all affected employees should receive varying payments before September based on how much overtime they worked.

“Some will receive a few thousand dollars, but the amounts will vary based on the number of hours of uncompensated overtime worked,” Conway said.

— By Steve Weingarten, CFT Reporter