On Wednesday 6/15, our AFT 2121 bargaining team met with the District again. We tried to bargain over AFT’s proposals to extend health benefits and severance pay for our laid-off members. The District rejected our proposals without offering a counter-proposal, saying they were “too expensive”. When Alayna Fredricks pushed Clara Starr to define what the district thought was “too expensive”, Clara Starr and John al-Amin struggled to come up with an exact figure between $70,000 and $80,000. It was clear that, once again, the District had not done their homework or made any effort to cost out what the actual numbers would be. AFT 2121 Treasurer Clare Heimer noted items in the District budget that cost more than $80,000: copiers and printers, litigation, credit card fees, and interest payments. This puts into stark contrast how little regard the District has for employees who have devoted decades of their lives to service to the college.
When asked what concrete forms of assistance the District planned to offer laid-off faculty, Clara Starr replied that members could sign up for Covered California or COBRA. The District refuses to take any responsibility for the harm they have inflicted on our members due to unnecessary layoffs. Our AFT 2121 Secretary Robin Pugh made an impassioned appeal for how loss of health benefits is ruining the lives of our laid-off members, for whom the exorbitant cost of health care exacerbates the stress and vulnerability of unemployment. This, coming during the COVID pandemic, is unconscionable and speaks to the total lack of empathy and leadership from this administration and chancellor.
The District refused to offer any severance to laid-off faculty. AFT’s Executive Director Alayna Fredricks and members of the bargaining team pointed out that Mark Rocha, former chancellor of CCSF, was paid approximately $375,000 in severance plus health benefits, as well as being paid for accrued vacation time. This kind of heartless double standard shows the hypocrisy of this administration and their lack of commitment to the majority of hard-working employees.
It is clear, once again, that this District is not engaging in good faith bargaining. PERB has already found AFT’s Unfair Labor Practice charge to have merit, and this continued bad faith bargaining will only add to the charge.
When asked about future bargaining sessions, Clara Starr remarked that perhaps next week, Wednesday June 22nd, should be the LAST bargaining session as she is planning on going on vacation. Clearly, AFT 2121 will continue to demand that we bargain. This unwillingness to engage in good faith bargaining as well as the overall tone of the past few bargaining sessions speaks to the noticeable shift towards the de-emphasizing and deterioration of labor relations since David Martin took over as CCSF Chancellor in November. The District must come to the table and engage in serious good faith bargaining. Meanwhile, AFT 2121 will pursue every avenue both within bargaining and through other means to pursue justice for our members and defend our college in light of these inhumane assaults.
Follow Us!