Voices from the Bargaining Table: Dora Rodriguez on Yesterday’s Session

I am a faculty member in the Disabled Student Programs and Services Department who is also a member of our AFT Bargaining Team. We had a session on Monday at Mid-Semester Flex (10/9), and I wanted to share my perspective on the state of negotiations.

I have spent 36 years of my life at CCSF, as a freshman in 1987, as an instructional aide in 1990, as a part-time instructor in 1998 and a full-time member since 2001. From this experience, I know the importance of serving students, and I appreciate our dedicated faculty.

What happened at Monday’s session?

Based on yesterday’s session, I would like to reiterate my colleague Megan Sweeney’s statement, “Faculty need competitive wages to live in this expensive region during a period of record inflation and for the college to attract and retain faculty.”

At Monday’s session, AFT received four District counter proposals on salaries, facilities, paid training for online courses, and parental leave. On the key issue of salary, I remain deeply frustrated by Chancellor Martin and his team. The District offered a 2-year contract agreement that includes a 5% increase for 23-24, a 4% increase for 24-5, and a partial (roughly ⅓) restoration of our 21-22 concessionary year–none of which comes close to meeting COLA or giving faculty the full restoration we’re due. The District’s salary proposal would leave CCSF faculty salaries well below what other Bay Area colleges offer. This is disrespectful to faculty and threatens the health of our programs.

The District Finance Team showed a $9 million surplus in the current academic year and justified much of their proposal on the basis of doom and gloom speculations about the long term, with assumptions such as no one retiring in the next 5 years.

What can you do for a higher salary and a fair contract?

Dear ALL Underpaid Faculty, All Hands On Deck! Let’s stand in solidarity at the October 26th Board of Trustees meeting. They need to hear our Faculty roar! Raise faculty salaries to competitive Bay 10 median salaries! Return our retroactive pay! Our livelihood depends on it! The health of our programs are at stake!

Please commit to attending the Board of Trustees meeting by by signing here: https://bit.ly/Oct26MUB.

Oct 26 Rally Details:

Date: Thursday, October 26th
Time: 5 pm
Location: In front of East entrance of MUB building, Ocean Campus
Note: Faculty can plan to attend the Board meeting or join other faculty outside of the building

–Dora