Bulletin of April 22, 2008
AFT Union election: ballots mailed out—please cast
your vote
All AFT members should receive a first-class mail ballot to their homes over the next couple of days. Members are voting for new AFT 2121 officers, Executive Board reps, delegates, and precinct reps. Ballots should be sent in the pre-paid envelopes with a PO Box mailing address. The Election Committee will handle collection and counting of the ballots. The deadline for receipt of the ballots is Friday May 9, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. Call AFT 2121 at 585-2121 if you do not receive a ballot or if you have questions.
Negotiation under way over health plan premium hikes and other issues
AFT and the District find ourselves in a difficult negotiations atmosphere given proposed cuts in state education funding that would decimate the CCSF budget. Nevertheless, the Union has made it clear to the District that faculty cannot shoulder the huge burden of increased employee health care costs announced by the Health Service System beginning July 1. AFT is seeking relief from these enormous hikes in the form of an increased subsidy by the District for health coverage for 2008-09.
Other issues at the bargaining table include
simplifying sick leave accrual and use, recall rights for part-timers, revised
leave and evaluation procedures, and more. Given the fiscal crisis and budget
uncertainty, many compensation issues will be deferred until the struggle
over the State budget unfolds. However, we hope to have agreement on a revised
contract with reopener provision before the faculty for ratification within
several weeks, if possible. Our current contract expires June 30.
Part-timers: last paycheck of semester and health deductions for summer coverage
Part-timers who are under pay-by-load (PBL) receive 9 equal base-pay paychecks for the semester. There are two PBL pay dates left in the Spring 2008 semester, April 29 and May 13. These are also the paychecks from which part-timers with health benefits will be additionally deducted for summer health coverage. Unfortunately, these deductions will reflect the enormous increases in premiums handed down from HSS for 2008-09. However, as mentioned above, AFT is currently negotiating with the District for mitigation of these increases.
Faculty, staff mobilize with students to fight Higher
Ed budget cuts
The Great Mobilization of 2008 to stave off budget cuts is now history—and we have made history once again. AFT 2121 and the CCSF administration worked frantically along with our students to support a late-breaking April 21 Day of Protest for Higher Education in California—and our efforts paid off! Once again we had the most participants of all the UC, CSU, and Community College schools represented at the event. Over 500 CCSF students, faculty, and staff rode chartered buses to Sacramento; and at least 100 others from City College drove to march, chant, and rally to save higher education in our state from over $1 billion in cuts proposed by the governor. A huge thank you to all AFT 2121 members who were able to come to Sacramento, and special thanks to the faculty bus monitors for their efforts.
Support AB 2277—contact Mark Leno and Fiona Ma
Community colleges are facing a shortfall of millions of dollars in the current year because property tax collections are running well below previous projections. At CCSF, this deficit, 1.2% of the amount already allocated to the college, represents a debilitating mid-year budget cut of about $2.5 million for the current academic year, 2007-08--funds the District will be forced to return to Sacramento this year if the legislature fails to act.
Judy Michaels, the CFT lobbyist for higher education in Sacramento, informed AFT locals that AB 2277 (Eng), the Community College Tax Backfill Bill, cleared the Assembly Higher Education Committee unanimously last week and is now headed for the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Judy is urging that we contact members of Appropriations to let them know of our support for the bill. San Francisco legislators Mark Leno and Fiona Ma are members of Appropriations Committee; in fact, as committee chair, Mark Leno wields tremendous power over bills that come before the committee.
Please send a message in support of AB 2277 to Assemblymembers Leno and Ma in which you identify yourself as a City College faculty member and briefly explain that AB 2277’s passage will allow you to keep doing your important work as a professional. It is advisable to keep messages short, simple, and direct. You can also include some of the facts bulleted below.
Faxes, emails, and phone calls are all viable ways to contact our legislators. Judy Michaels recommends sending faxes if possible; but making contact quickly is the most important factor.
Mark Leno
Phone: 916-319-2013
Fax: 916-319-2113
Email: Assemblymember.Leno@asm.ca.gov
Fiona Ma
Phone: 916-319-2012
Fax: 916-319-2112
Email: Assemblymember.Ma@asm.ca.gov