Chancellor pay | AFT 2121 meetings | Next steps for state funding | More…

Posted on May 17, 2021 by AFT 2121

Chancellor pay

The Board of Trustees has decided to pull the proposal to raise Chancellor Vurdien’s pay by 23% from the agenda for this Thursday’s meeting at 3pm on this link. This is the right decision–the proposal was frankly obscene. It undermined the credibility of our Trustees (see the Chronicle’s coverage here), and of our collective fight to save our college. We are glad the Trustees reversed course.

But make no mistake–this reversal happened because of your organizing. You all wrote, called, and made your voices heard over the weekend, and it worked. We will continue to stand as one in the fight for our college, and we urge the Trustees to join us. We’re hopeful that this reversal indicates a new willingness to work together.

Faculty and administrative pay should not exist in two different worlds. Why? Because we work for the same college and serve the same students. Let’s all return to that mission.

(5/18 & 5/20) CFT led actions: More funding for our community colleges!

With our recent impacts agreement, we volunteered to sacrifice our salary to keep our classes and programming open. That’s not a long term solution for our college. San Francisco deserves a community college that meets the needs of its residents, and that means ongoing support on the local and state level.

Our state affiliate, the California Federation of Teachers, has launched an online campaign urging Governor Newsom and legislators to provide greater funding to community colleges in the upcoming budget.

Let’s keep up organizing for funding by taking the following 3 actions this week:
(RSVP by emailing vbachelor@cft.org)

Public Comment at a Senate Budget Committee Hearing Tuesday, May 18th and Assembly Budget Committee Hearing Wednesday, May 19th

We need local leaders and members to offer ‘Me Too’ statements at the Senate budget committee hearing. The statements will be short, 30sec to a minute, and CFT can provide talking points. The comments will be sometime between 10am-1pm, and CFT staff will text you when the comment is beginning.
Thursday, May 20th: Mass Outreach to Key Lawmakers

Community College union members are coming together Thursday afternoon to phone bank key legislators, write personalized letters, and post on social media.

RSVP for these actions now by emailing CFT Lead Organizer Valerie Bachelor at vbachelor@cft.org. The Governor has to finalize his budget by June 30, so it’s essential we share our stories on why community colleges are essential and deserve added state support.

Finally, CFT just launched an online campaign urging Governor Newsom and legislators to fully fund community colleges in the upcoming budget by extending the SCCF hold harmless provision, expanding COLA, eliminating deferrals, and ending the wasteful expense of CalBright. Sign the online letter.

(5/18, 3:30-4:30pm) Emergency member meeting

This Tuesday, 5/18 from 3:30-4:30pm is a special meeting for AFT 2121 members to discuss the recent proposal to raise Chancellor Vurdien’s pay by 23%, while faculty took 4-11% pay cuts for the sake of our students and our college.

Because our bylaws require advance notice for resolutions or voting, this cannot be an official general membership meeting. No resolutions can be introduced and no voting can take place. This is an opportunity for discussion.

To attend go to this link https://aft.zoom.us/j/3145027798 or dial 669-900-6833 and enter the Meeting ID: 314 502 7798.

(5/20, 3pm) Board of Trustees

The BOT is ready to hear our anger, so let’s do this differently. Let’s make a light hearted demonstration of a serious point: accountability. We need our Trustees to hold admin accountable, and that means no more $420,000 a year salaries for Chancellors while faculty take pay cuts. Our political leaders, our students, and our community need to see a well run CCSF that is transparent, accountable, and honest. That’s what we need to protect and grow our college.

So here’s a suggestion for public comment: “Hello, BOT, I’ve heard you’re looking for a chancellor! Here are my qualifications, here’s why I’d do a better job than what you have now, and here’s how much money you could save hiring me instead.” You don’t have to actually be applying, but it would make a fantastic point if the BOT heard a string of qualified people, one after another, giving this kind of comment. Have fun with this! Extend it to other administrative positions as well.

Zoom: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/91340113747
Phone Number: 415 762 9988 or 669 900 6833 ID: 9134 0113 747
Agenda: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/ccsf/Board.nsf/Public

(5/25, 3-5pm) Delegate Assembly

All AFT 2121 members are welcome to attend. Agenda will be sent out this week.
Join Zoom Meeting

To attend go to this link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81016718065?pwd=UFk0SzdUY2FLdXdLL2RLZW1wdnhRZz09 or dial 669-900-6833 and enter the Meeting ID: 810 1671 8065 and Passcode: 783119

Fall schedule: Why are there still cuts?

While most eyes have been on the issue of our Chancellor’s pay, faculty also have urgent concerns about Fall schedules. What did our agreement protect? Why are my classes still being cut? Will I have an assignment? Why are departments being made to beg for FTEF?

The short answer: Because the fight continues.

Our agreement guarantees a minimum 520 FTEF for Fall instructional assignments – not as much as we’d like but a giant step forward in our bargaining strength. Last Fall, the instructional FTEF was 582, not counting the Student Services Division. We still have work to do to get more FTEF into the departments to preserve classes and programs, but a guaranteed FTEF this high is a step forward.

Of that 62 possible FTEF cut, 46 have already been absorbed by retiring and resigning full-time faculty. Some of the 16 remaining FTEF will be taken up by retiring and resigning part-time faculty. We don’t know their workloads, so it’s harder to calculate the exact effect. Attrition without replacement is clearly terrible for our college, but it does not result in layoffs or reduced load.

Our agreement also guarantees 100% of Fall 2020 FTEF in Students Services. There should be no cuts in Counseling, Library, DSPS, EOPS, or anywhere else in Student Services compared to Fall 2020. It looks like Vice Chancellor Tom Boegel is attempting to get around that by cutting classes from Student Services, treating them like part of the instructional side of the agreement. However, the signed agreement unambiguously states there shall be no cuts in the “Student Services Division.” This is another fight we have in front of us.

About those numbers

There has been a lot of confusion and people still have questions about the Tentative Agreement. In case you missed it, you can find the real numbers in Friday’s email news. The top of the page, about Vurdien’s threatened raise, is now outdated, but the second section has details of our agreement.