Susan Solomon Joined Hundreds of Immigrant Students & ESL Teachers in an Inspiring Rally to Protect John Adams ESL

Trustee-elect Susan Solomon joined hundreds of CCSF students and faculty in a protest at Mission Campus today. The large crowd began with chants and short speeches, and then created a human billboard of signs on either side of Valencia Street in order to protest the closure of the ESL Program at John Adams Campus, which has served immigrants on San Francisco’s westside for over forty years. See initial coverage of the event in Mission Local, Univision, Telemundo 48, Sing Tao, SF Standard, KQED, & the SF Examiner.

Thank you to everyone who made yesterday such a profound demonstration of why City College needs to hold fast to its mission to serve immigrant San Franciscans in their communities. Thank you to the hundreds of students who bravely spoke out for their right to an accessible education. Thank you to Student Trustee Malinalli Villalobos & Student Chancellor Heather Brandt for your leadership on this issue from the beginning, and thank you to Trustee elect Susan Solomon for speaking at this event and reminding us that you “cannot take a one size fits all approach to education.”

City College ESL has historically offered courses throughout the city at multiple campuses and community-based organizations in order to serve students with limited resources for managing long commutes. That is the access ESL students need, & it is this vision that Chancellor Martin does not seem to understand. We need that to change.

We need Chancellor Martin to meet again with faculty and students, only this time we need him to not only ‘listen,’ but to actively incorporate what he hears into his decision making. Finally, we need our Trustees to ensure this conversation takes place and that our college meets the needs of John Adams ESL students who are fighting to preserve their fully enrolled classes.

Unemployment Insurance

If you work part-time, you are officially unemployed after the semester ends, even if you expect to have a Spring assignment. You may be entitled to benefits.  

Apply as soon as possible on or after your last day of work. That’s December 20th for those who have full-term assignments. Your application is retroactive only to the Sunday of the week in which you apply, so don’t wait.

For detailed information about how to calculate your earnings and apply for unemployment, see AFT’s unemployment page.

Join ILWU for a Community Rally For a Fair Union Contract at Tartine! 595 Alabama St on Saturday, Dec 10, at 1pm

As Tartine ramps up into their busy holiday season, we are calling on the community to stand with Tartine workers in their fight to win living wages, transparency, and accountability at work.

Tartine is owned by CIM, a multi-billion-dollar real estate company that prioritizes profit over community. According to the community group African Communities Together and an investigation by Bloomberg, CIM has evicted hundreds of its tenants–particularly people of color and recent immigrants–throughout the pandemic, even as it makes record-breaking profits. CIM and its subsidiaries have shown, over and over again, that they care more about their bottom line than they do about workers, tenants, and local communities.

ILWU has urged Tartine-CIM to work with them to negotiate a fair contract. We are asking all union members, workers, community members, and those who believe in justice and dignity for workers to join us Saturday, December 10, at 1pm at 595 Alabama St to show their support for this contract fight!