Bargaining update plus upcoming union meetings, survey

AFT 2121 leadership met with the administration’s bargaining team Wednesday to discuss the District’s proposal for a faculty wage freeze to address CCSF’s and the COVID-19-induced Local/State fiscal crises. There’s nothing pretty here, so you may want to sit down before you read this. We’re still working to wrap our heads around it.

Administration has finally provided some of the necessary information to have a substantive conversation about what the college is facing. However, we do not yet have enough information, and even in the last few days the crisis has deepened. AFT 2121 will hold the originally scheduled emergency Delegate Assembly meeting Friday, open to all union members, for further discussion, but we will not be ready to take a vote on Friday, and as you will see below, we are scheduling an additional meeting we hope you can attend.

In the administration’s latest budget scenarios, iteration #5, the far-right column, is their plan that takes into account the updates from the state’s “May Revise” budget and assumes all employee groups accept proposed concessions. We continue to scrutinize these numbers, and as you can see, if projected revenue numbers hold and all cuts are implemented, the college would be left with just over $1.2 million above the 5% reserve.  

The governor’s May Revise is an absolute disaster for us, with CCSF alone facing a loss of $27 million for the 2020-21 academic year.* $27 million is too big a gap to be made up with a wage freeze alone. Locally budgets are also bleak: Mayor Breed has announced 10% cuts this year 15% next year to city departments.

We are nonetheless continuing to pursue more revenue. On Tuesday, Supervisor Mar introduced our legislation for the Workforce Education Recovery Fund, which would bring in $20 million per year to CCSF starting next year if supervisors vote to put it on the ballot and voters approve it. Get involved by contacting Organizer Athena Waid (awaid@aft2121.org).

At this point, we’ve gotten some clarity about what to expect. Interim Chancellor Gonzales phrased it more or less this way: ‘We will spend less money, either by paying people less or paying fewer people.’ CCSF admin. is planning for both. They’re also looking for an approach where everyone in the college shares some burden—everyone who still has a job here, that is.

Things to know:

1. Administration has made an incomplete, conceptual proposal. In essence, they have told us what they are planning to present to us—but we’re still waiting for that formal presentation. We expect that proposal will come this week, but given their delayed timeline, it is simply not possible for our union to make an informed or formal decision on Friday, as we had originally intended.
2. We now expect their formal proposal to include both a year-long wage freeze *and* 12 furlough days. (Furloughs shave paid days off the work schedule. Details of how furloughs would be implemented, such as how they could be applied to teaching faculty given that class time can’t be reduced, or whether 12 days would be pro-rated for employees who work less than full-time, are not clear. See #1, above.)
3. These take-backs and concessions are being put to all employee groups (faculty, staff, and administrators).
4. The very clear ultimatum is further significant reduction in courses offered and faculty jobs. According to the district, a number of emergency budgetary measures have already been decided. Administration has:
   
   
   1. implemented an across-the-board hiring freeze including administrative positions
   2. planned further deep cuts to the current already deeply cut 20/21 schedule
      1. previously 1,200 FTE), contingent on negotiations and concessions:
      2. either 1,100 FTE or (if all concessions are made)
      3. to as low as 900 FTE (if concessions do not meet district demands)

Again, we have not yet received a formal proposal or details, but we will keep you up to date. Our next bargaining meeting with the District is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th. AFT 2121 members are encouraged to join our upcoming meetings on Friday, May 22nd and Thursday, June 4th for further discussion and the latest updates and analysis of the situation.

—

* That $27M May Revise number could change as the budget is finalized, especially if federal money fills some of the gaps. We will need you to engage with us on the state and federal levels to advocate for community colleges and other essential services.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

What’s next?! Three ways to engage:

1. Emergency Delegate Assembly Meeting, Friday, 5/22, 10am.
   
   
   1. To attend go to https://tinyurl.com/y72yzfun OR call 1-669-900-6833 and follow the prompts to enter the Meeting ID: 815 4745 4591 and Password: 432208
   2. In order to allow as many members as possible to participate in the discussion, this will be a single topic meeting and no other items will be added to the agenda. The agenda is an update on bargaining and discussion of the district’s proposed concessions which will cover what we need.
      
      Again, we apologize to those who were unable to join Monday’s meeting. We have worked to resolve the Zoom tech problem and expect everyone will be able to get in but we haven’t been able to test it yet, so we won’t know for sure until more than 100 people try to join us.
      .
2. NEW MEETING: Special General Membership Meeting, Thursday, June 4th, 2pm.
   
   
   1. To attend go to https://tinyurl.com/y9h2lds6 OR call 1-669-900-6833 and follow the prompts to enter the Meeting ID: 885 4283 3638 andPassword: 568165.
   2. Agenda:
      1. Update on bargaining and budget
      2. Discussion to identify major concerns and potential solutions
      3. If needed: vote on proposed wage freeze

3. Asynchronous, Zoom-free SURVEY
Please help craft our response to the District about concessions and COVID-19: SURVEY FOR AFT 2121 FACULTY: WAGE FREEZE PROPOSAL / COVID-19