Elections | CHEF listening session | Unemployment | CalSTRS premiums| Facilities

Update: AFT 2121 elections for 2020-22 term

Nomination for officers, Reps-at-Large, and Labor Council and for AFT convention delegates conclude this Friday, April 3, and we are already in the process of confirming acceptance with nominees.

Due to the state-wide emergency restriction around COVID-19, AFT 2121 is unable to conduct a mail ballot as we have in the past, so voting will be conducted online by a third party company that specializes in online elections, including union elections. The AFT Election Commission is reviewing these vendors and recommending one to our Executive Board. Members will be sent voting instructions to their email addresses. Members will then access a remote, secure voting site to cast their ballot using a unique member number.

If you wish to update your email address, please send your new address, along with your name, phone number, and CCSF employee ID (for verification purposes), to our general mailbox: aft@aft2121.org.

Candidates may request contact information of eligible voters for the purpose of election campaigning. We will also host campaign statements at our website, aft2121.org. Candidates statements are due Wednesday, April 9. Please see rules for submitting a candidate statement here.

Tentative dates:

• Monday, April 20, 2020 – email notification to eligible voters with online voting instructions
• Friday, May 8, 2020 – last day for online voting

AFT 2121 Retiree Chapter members are eligible to vote in the upcoming AFT 2121 elections provided they are current in paying dues ($24/year).

Current faculty on unpaid leave or part-time faculty who are laid off (with recall rights) need to pay $5/month dues to remain in good standing and eligible to vote. Contact us with any questions aft@aft2121.org.  

(4/1/20) CHEF listening session

Unemployment insurance for faculty who work part-time

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about applying for unemployment. Here are a few quick points. For more, please see our AFT 2121 unemployment page.

• Our semester runs through May 20. This date did not change when we were shut down. Our pay and our employment continue. Faculty who have full-term assignments are considered employed through May 20.
• Faculty who work part-time are eligible when our assignments end whether or not we expect to have an assignment the following semester.
• Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the State of California is expanding unemployment benefits. The possible benefit amounts have increased by $600 per week. The benefits period has been extended to 39 weeks. You can now report income from self-employment and “gig” work. — If your CCSF assignment ends but you still have some work (either from another employer, or a reduced CCSF assignment) you may still be eligible. If you’re not sure they’ll consider you unemployed, the best way to find out is to apply.

CalSTRS fails to deduct retiree health care premiums

Some retirees have received health coverage termination notices from the Health Service System (HSS) because CalSTRS failed to deduct and forward to HSS health premiums from retiree pension checks. If you have received such a termination notice, please contact AFT 2121 immediately by emailing us at: aft@aft2121.org or calling 415-585-2121.

Report: Facilities Committee

The Senior Vice Chancellor (SVC) of Facilities, James Sohn, is working at breakneck speed to spend the $845M of bond money passed in the March election. Many members of the Facilities Committee are concerned that he is bypassing Participatory Governance processes.

Some particular concerns are the potential sale of the Eddy St. Campus, unmitigated environmental impacts of the Balboa Reservoir Project, and SVC Sohn’s pre-authorization to spend large sums of money.  

John Watkins, from the Program Management Office (PMO) presented a list of 40 items to the Facilities Committee on March 30th that are slated to be sent to the regular BOT meeting in April. Although the committee was told that the list did not require any action, the heading of the list was “April Board Action Items (Preview)”. The extensive list lacked much information and detail.

The Committee flagged 5 items in particular for more information before deciding on a recommendation:

• 8. Authorization to Revise Scope and Budget for the Emergency Response Center Fit-Out
• 9. Authorization to Contract with XXX for Design Services to Renovate the Existing Bookstore Annex as an Emergency Operations Center at Ocean Campus
• 19. Authorization to Enter into a Lease Agreement at Chinatown Center
• 20. Authorization to Sell Eddy St Center (A concerning development. AFT pushed back, stay tuned)
• 21. Authorization to Enter into a Lease Agreement at Downtown Center

The Draft Environmental Impact Report on the Balboa Reservoir Project identified three significant environmental impacts: construction noise, air, and transportation. On November 30, 2019, under the authority of AB900, the Governor overruled consideration of these impacts. The project is to move forward with unmitigated environmental impacts.

Given this, the Facilities Committee passed a recommendation that the College appoint an official representative for the Balboa Reservoir project to represent the college’s interests to the developer and the city who reports back to the Administration and the Facilities Committee.