Dear Faculty,

This is your fight–for your departments, your students, your salaries, and your college. You have one weekend left to make sure you win this. Your opposition has raised over $1 million dollars and is flooding the airwaves and mail with misleading attack ads, which means, to win this, you need to take action together.

You know the stakes: City College urgently needs more investment and better leadership. From Nursing and Computer Networking to Health Education and English, our college is turning away thousands of students right now, and it has to stop. We need change.

Getting out the vote is your last chance to make sure it happens. Sign up now for a Prop O & Trustee Candidate Mobilization weekend. It’s time to take back control of your college:

1. Saturday, Nov 5, 10am-2pm, Alamo Square (Hayes & Scott St.)

2. Sunday, Nov 6, 10am-2pm, Dolores Park (19th St & Dolores)

RSVP for these events and see others here: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS. And encourage your friends, family, students, & colleagues to join you.

A Win-Win: Ongoing Funds for CCSF and Expanded Access to Medical Insurance

AFT 2121 joined other locals and CFT leaders to plan coordinated action
to expand medical coverage.

We have a great opportunity to bring new money into the college and expand medical insurance to cover more employees. The Governor signed AB-190 last month, setting aside $200M in stable, ongoing funding to support expansion of medical benefits for adjunct faculty.The State of CA will reimburse CCSF for the cost of broadening medical coverage for PT faculty and for money we’re already spending.

• All Districts get reimbursed for 50% of what they spend on medical insurance for part-time faculty, without changing anything. That would be about $800,000 for CCSF each year.

• Districts that meet additional conditions get reimbursed for 100% of what they spend. That would be about $1.6 million for CCSF each year. to get this larger reimbursement, CCSF would need to:

— Cover all faculty who work 40% or more load, and cover them immediately when they begin working. (Right now, CCSF covers faculty who work 50% or more, and only starting their third semester.)

— Cover a percentage of the cost of insurance for faculty who work in multiple districts. We don’t know all the details of how this would work. CFT is working out the implementation and the formulas, and the state chancellor’s office has said they will publish guidelines in November. In the meantime, we need the CCSF administration to commit to participating.

To be fair, there will be some fine print. The program will not reimburse for dental or vision coverage. But what CCSF spends on those will be more than covered by the new money this program provides. This is a win-win for faculty and our college.

We can expand medical coverage to more workers. At the same time, we can bring in new money to CCSF for all of our priorities, including pay, restoration, protecting programs, lab parity, the stability of our programs, growth, and more. We know that our working conditions are students’ learning conditions – healthy faculty means better education.

Stay tuned! We hope to get to the bargaining table soon and get the District on board.

1 Week Left! Trustee Phone Bank Tonight & Thurs 5:30-8pm & Prop O Phone Banks this Tues & Weds 5:30-8pm

City College needs more investment & better leaders. You know this, and now you have one week to make sure the voters of San Francisco know this.

Trustee Candidate Phonebank: Monday (10/31) & Thursday (11/3) 5:30-8pm

Prop O Phonebank: Tuesday (11/1) & Wednesday (11/2) 5:30-8pm

Sign up now for phonebank shifts 5:30-8pm (come for as long as you can) on Zoom Monday through Thursday of this week, and help make sure we pass Proposition O & elect Vick Chung, Anita Martinez, Susan Solomon, & Adolfo Velasquez for the City College Board. RSVP here and you’ll receive the link for the phonebank: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS

Prop O & Trustee Candidate Mobilizations Sat 10/29 & Sun 10/30

It’s time to Get out the Vote for City College. Real estate industry opposition has amassed over $700k and is running misleading attack ads on TV & by mail–that means it’s time to use your people power to turn your community out!

RSVP now for your Prop O Campaign Day this Saturday, 10/29 at 11am (meet at Keith St and Bancroft) and your Prop O, Prop L, and Trustee Candidates joint mobilization this Sunday, 10/30 at 11am (meet at 19th St and Diamond St).

We have less than two weeks left to get the word out about the opportunity to fund our college and elect principled leadership to our board! RSVP for other campaign days here: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS

Yes On O Chinatown Action Against Misinformation

Over sixty Chinatown community members and leaders joined City College students, teachers, staff as well as CCSF Trustee Alan Wong for a Yes on Proposition O mobilization and visibility action in Chinatown on Tuesday. Together we countered misinformation and said in one voice: support San Francisco students & vote Yes on Proposition O.

Enormous thanks & gratitude to the Chinese Progressive Association for working with AFT 2121 and SEIU 1021 to host to the event, and to Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), City College Trustee Alan Wong, and all of the students and community members who made this action a success. See video clips of the initial rally here & of the visibility action on Stockton street here.

You can see coverage in Sing Tao, 48 Hills, KPFA News & Flashpoints, and also in print in China Press.

In the words of one participant, Biotech student Jessica Chen: “CCSF has provided me with the opportunity to receive an affordable education as an immigrant. My training at CCSF has helped me get ready to step into my future career. I’m studying and working in a research lab at UCSF. I’m so grateful to City College. We need City College and City College needs Prop O.”

Your next Prop O visibility action will be a Freeway Banner Drop on Weds, Nov 2, from 4-6pm near Ocean Campus. To participate and/or join the team publicizing this event, email Robin Pugh at rpugh@aft2121.org

Dazzling Mission Campus Circus & Rally for City College on Wednesday

ESL Instructors Carolyn Cox, Lori Admokom, Kate Frei, Armen Hovhannes, and others organized an absolutely brilliant full scale circus performance on Wednesday dramatizing the crisis of class cuts at the college and rallying the community for more support by passing Prop O & electing Anita, Susan, Vick, & Adolfo as our student-centered Trustees.

With dance, theatrical skits, juggling, signing, and more, City College students and faculty dazzled a crowd of over a hundred, including CCSF Trustee candidates Adolfo Velasquez and Anita Martinez.

Thank you to Theatre Department students Tonantzin Alcantar Bratt, Devin Boston, Hazz Bubna, Mark Lesley, Bohdan Andrukh, and Alexis Royeca for enlivening us with your brilliant performances, and to the many other students who made this such a rewarding community event. You all entertained the audience while making a serious point: City College courses from ESL to Biotech are disappearing, and San Francisco’s students are the ones suffering.

One of the stars of the show was Jefferson Freire, a Brazilian American immigrant, ESL student, and now a professional performer in the troupe Circus Bella. Follow Jefferson and see his work on Instagram here. From acrobatic dancing to juggling on a unicycle while holding a “Vote Yes on Proposition O” sign, Jefferson was astounding. See a video clip of his performance here.

In the words of Freire, “As an immigrant, City College has changed my life. From taking City College’s English as Second Language classes, I have been able to learn to speak English and that has allowed me to make friends, become a part of the San Francisco community, and find a better job. I’m now working as a performer in the Circus company Circus Bella, and I love it.”

(This Week) ULP Hearing over the District’s Bad Faith Bargaining

Almost a year ago, your Bargaining Team filed a ULP, an Unfair Labor Practice, with the Public Employment Relations Board over the District’s continual Bad Faith Bargaining, which continues to impede progress in all areas of bargaining. The ULP process is long and slow, and we are currently at the hearing stage where the complaint is heard by a judge. The hearing is scheduled for 10AM – 6PM, Monday – Friday, 10/24-10/28, but there may be breaks scheduled during this time and the hearing may conclude early.

In order to watch the proceedings, members need to fill out this linked form and agree to follow some basic protocols. After the form is submitted, instructions on how to join the hearing online will be emailed. 

(10/25, 11:30am) Yes on O Chinatown Community Mobilization & Visibility Action–Counter the Misinformation & Speak Up for City College!​

Remember to join your Chinatown community partners in reminding the Chinese community of City College’s essential role as an accessible pathway to better jobs & better lives for all San Franciscans.  Join in person at Portsmouth Square or watch online here: https://fb.me/e/24wc2dglU.

This event is hosted by the Chinese Progressive Association, Chinese for Affirmative Action, your Classified Staff Labor Siblings SEIU 1021, & your union AFT 2121. The action will begin with a Mobilization (11:30am-12pm) at Portsmouth Square and then move to a visibility action on Stockton St (between Washington & Clay) from 12 to 2pm, where we will hold large signs broadcasting the value of City College & combating misinformation surrounding Prop O.

(10/25, 3pm) General Membership Meeting, No COPE Tomorrow 

All AFT 2121 members are invited to participate in our Tuesday, October 25 General Membership Meeting from 3-5pm – meeting agenda here. The COPE meeting that had been scheduled for immediately before GMM was canceled. To attend your General Membership Meeting follow this link from your computer or smartphone OR call 1-669-900-6833 then follow the prompts to enter the meeting ID #810 1671 8065 and password: 783119

Spooky Spectacle at CCSF Mission Campus Wed. Oct 26, 12-1:30pm–Campaign Visibility Theater w/Your Trustee Candidates​

The November election is just around the corner and our community needs to know the frightening CCSF situation ( overcrowded ESL classes, long 

English wait lists, reduced student support services, fewer vocational and certificate tracks for students, and more) will take the form of street theater and rally outside Mission Campus this Wednesday. There will be a professional juggler! There will be a Dastardly Magician attempting to make CCSF shrink and vanish! There will be low level ESL students performing “Thriller”! There will be student improvisers and speakers! There will be several of the AFT-endorsed candidates for the Board of Trustees. And we are hoping that there will be lots of local press to report on this scary scenario before the elections.

Join us and tell your students to come to the show. Assemble on the Bartlett Street side of the school, at the corner of 22nd Street. All are welcome; the more , the scarier! (Costumes optional, but encouraged!) Questions- email Carolyn Cox at clcox1125@gmail.com

(Jan. 2023) Save the Date! Retirement Financial Planning Day

Save the date for the next upcoming Retirement Financial Planning Day happening on January 12, 2023. Registration and more info coming soon.

Prop O Mobilizations ESSJ Sat 10/22 at 10am w/ Supervisor Walton at MLK Park & Health Ed Sun 10/23 at 11am at Youngblood-Coleman Park

It’s time to Get out the Vote for City College. Your real estate industry opposition has amassed over $650k and is running misleading attack ads on TV & by mail–that means it’s time to use your people power to turn your community out!

RSVP now for your Prop O Campaign Days tomorrow Saturday, October 22, at MLK Park (Keith St & Carroll Ave) at 10am & Sunday, October 23, at 11am at Youngblood-Coleman Park (Mendell St. & Galvez Ave.). Ethnic Studies & Social Justice (ESSJ) is sponsoring Saturday, and Health Education is sponsoring Sunday, so if you’re in ESSJ or Health Ed make sure you show up for your days, but everyone else–faculty, students, staff, & community–join! And RSVP for other campaign days here: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS

Yes on O Chinatown Community Mobilization & Visibility Action–Counter the Misinformation & Speak Up for City College!

Share far & wide–invite friends, colleagues, & students–and join your Chinatown community partners in reminding the Chinese community of City College’s essential role as an accessible pathway to better jobs & better lives for all San Franciscans. RSVP: https://bit.ly/ccsfWINS.

This event is hosted by the Chinese Progressive Association, Chinese for Affirmative Action, your Classified Staff Labor Siblings SEIU 1021, & your union AFT 2121. The action will begin with a Mobilization (11:30am-12pm) at Portsmouth Square and then move to a visibility action on Stockton St (between Washington & Clay) from 12 to 2pm, where we will hold large signs broadcasting the value of City College & combating misinformation surrounding Prop O.

Spooky Spectacle at CCSF Mission Campus Wed. Oct 26, 12-1:30pm–Campaign Visibility Theater w/Your Trustee Candidates

Voting is happening right now, so this is another effort to let our community know the frightening CCSF situation ( ESL sections with 50-75 people, long wait lists for English 1A, reduced counseling staff and hours, slashed programs like motorcycle repair, disappearing departments like Horticulture and BEMA, etc.) will take the form of street theater and rally outside Mission Campus next Wednesday. There will be a professional juggler! There will be a Dastardly Magician attempting to make CCSF shrink and vanish! There will be low level ESL students performing “Thriller”! There will be student improvisers and speakers! There will be several of the AFT-endorsed candidates for the Board of Trustees. And we are hoping that there will be lots of local press to report on this scary scenario before the elections.

This is part of a week of campaign visibility actions. Please tell your students and come to the show yourselves. We will assemble on the Bartlett Street side of the school, at the corner of 22nd Street. All are welcome; the more , the scarier! (Costumes optional, but encouraged!) Questions- email Carolyn Cox at clcox1125@gmail.com

Co-Creating Group Agreements for Union Meetings in Advance of your General Membership Meeting Tues Oct 25 3-5pm

In an effort to improve our practice of centering diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI within AFT 2121, please help us co-create an updated set of group agreements. This is an opportunity for our union to create agreements that we can adhere to during our union meetings, or in any space where we are discussing union actions, strategy, campaigns and sharing collective space.  

The purpose of co-creating these agreements is to strengthen our practice of DEI and social justice and make room for not just different identities, but a diversity of voices, building our own tolerance for different perspectives and navigating challenges in healthy ways. Please look at the following suggestions for group agreements on this form and also include your own ideas below. The results will be shared at future union meetings.  

Read more about the purpose of group agreements here. Fill out your form here. The link for your General Membership Meeting Tuesday, October 25, from 3-5pm is here.

It’s Time to VOTE! Final COPE Endorsements + Ballots Have Dropped