Reminder Tmrw! Higher Education Labor United’s (HELU) Summit

Join your higher education colleagues around the nation at Higher Education Labor United’s (HELU) first Winter Summit, taking place virtually February 23-27.

Some featured speakers are: contingent faculty activists and authors Joe Berry (of CCSF) and Helena Worthen, activist and author Naomi Klein, union organizer and author Jane McAlevey, Chicago Teachers Union Vice-President Stacy Davis Gates, Jobs With Justice executive director Erica Smiley, and more.

Read more about HELU and register for the summit here: https://higheredlaborunited.org/

Contact Holly Stevens (your AFT 2121 HELU rep) with questions at hollyestevens@gmail.com.

Resources for teaching Black History month

Resources from AFT and community partners for how to start—and continue—having these important conversations. Black History Month is a special time for schools, and it’s also an important opportunity for us to acknowledge the achievements and challenges of Black Americans beyond the classroom. From how to combat racism in healthcare to stories from Black public employees, you’ll find a breadth of resources below. Read more from AFT National…

CFT-sponsored bill to tax extreme wealth in California

This week Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) re-introduced his bill, now titled AB 2289, that seeks to impose a tax on the extreme wealth of the richest Californians. The bill would impact approximately 17,000 multi-millionaires and billionaires in California, which is .07% of the total taxpayers in our state, and would raise more than $22 billion annually in revenue. CFT is a proud sponsor of this bill, and we will be working closely with Assemblymember Lee as it makes its way through the Legislature.

The timing of this bill is no accident. During the COVID-19 pandemic, billionaires’ collective wealth has increased 62%, and they are now $1.8 trillion richer than before the pandemic began. This hoarding of personal wealth while so many working Americans continue to struggle has not gone unnoticed.

“California billionaires have increased their wealth astronomically since the beginning of the pandemic, while regular working families have struggled to pay their bills,” CFT President Jeff Freitas said in a statement that was picked up by the LA Times. “It’s time we took care of each other, and not just watch billionaires fly into space.”

In order to generate long-term, stable revenue for California’s public schools, we need bold, progessive solutions like a tax on extreme wealth. Relying on one-time surpluses will not be enough for the kind of investment that California’s students and our communities deserve.  

In the coming weeks, CFT will be sharing opportunities to get involved and let your elected officials know that you support AB 2289.

Thurs 2/24 1pm CCSF Revenue Unity Coalition Town Hall

Zoom link
https://aft.zoom.us/j/94073277290?pwd=dFN4cmNabkVlMGgyc1Bzdk9UUTRDUT09

Description
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://aft.zoom.us/j/94073277290?pwd=dFN4cmNabkVlMGgyc1Bzdk9UUTRDUT09
Passcode: Heartbeat

For the past 3 weeks, you all have been working hard to organize a strong majority of faculty to sign No Layoffs Valentine’s Cards to the Trustees. Despite the fear and pain many of us are experiencing right now from the Chancellor’s layoff announcement, you did it.

You expanded your union community, and yesterday a contingent of AFT 2121 members delivered an impressive pile of No Layoff cards to the homes of Trustees Brigitte Davila, John Rizzo, and Thea Selby. They accompanied their delivery with a ‘Don’t Break the Heartbeat of CCSF’ performance developed by Lori Admokom. Your union also shared the street theater art action and AFT 2121’s budget analysis with the press.

Watch, like, and share John Rizzo witnessing his performance on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The point was to encourage Trustee Rizzo and his colleagues to show the independence and leadership necessary to reject the Chancellor’s layoffs and insist on a more positive path forward for our students and our community.

We’ve heard from some Trustees who found the performance invasive. To them, we say that one should run for elected public office only if one is ready to accept personal responsibility for decisions that affect hundreds of CCSF employees (faculty & staff) and thousands of students. Our students and our community demand leadership from those we elected to stand up for our college, not downsize it.

With creativity, passion, and a deep dedication to our students, we will continue to encourage CCSF Trustees to reject downsizing and instead work with SEIU 1021, the SF Building Trades, and AFT 2121 on building the kind of community college San Franciscans deserve and expect.

What’s next? Join your colleagues at the beginning of today’s Delegate Assembly, Tuesday, 2/15 from 3-5pm and get involved in the work to win your campaign to stop the layoffs, prevent class cuts, bring in revenue to the college, and restore pay.

• DA Agenda (agenda order will likely change)

• DRAFT Minutes

To attend, 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.

Bargaining Update and Survey

Your bargaining team met with the district on February 10. It was a disappointing session. It is clear that the District is not bargaining in good faith. We, as a united faculty, need to move the needle outside of bargaining. Below is an important and quick survey asking what you, AFT 2121 member, are willing to do to help win and to prevent layoffs.

Your bargaining team began working on the CalSTRS retirement incentive in August and formally proposed it at the table in early November. The district has been stalling ever since, and now has the nerve to say it’s too late. They rejected the proposal. Their excuse was that previous SERP plans hadn’t raised enough money. But this AFT proposal was a different kind of plan – CalSTRS incentives only go into effect there is actually a savings. In essence, AFT proposed a plan that would have provided a benefit to faculty while saving money and protecting the District from losses. The District turned it down with no counter-proposal and no discussion of the actual merits or mechanics of the proposal. A District that wanted to save money would be interested in discussing a retirement incentive.

Another sign that the District’s goal is not to save money was the layoff of classified staff in January. They walked away from the table and laid off dedicated workers. SEIU estimates that if they had instead agreed to the furlough plan they had on the table, they would have saved almost $2 million more than they achieved through layoffs.

All of the district’s actions since Chancellor David Martin was hired point to a clear downsizing agenda. In an attempt to convince faculty to go along with it, the chancellor has even suggested that faculty salaries will be restored only if we proceed with layoffs. This is false. Our temporary one-year agreement ends June 30, 2022 and our salaries automatically revert back to what they were before our concessionary agreement. We do not need any negotiation to make that happen – it’s already provided in the existing agreement.

However, we are not in the same dire budget situation as we were at this time last year. We are not in a deep financial hole as the district would like you to believe. The possibilities are real. We can build back our college rather than shrink it further!

Take action now:

➜ Come to the delegate assembly at 3:00 on Tuesday, February 15 and join the conversation about next steps.

➜ Fill out this survey by Monday, February 21 (link here), to let your bargaining team know how you can support your colleagues and what actions we can take together.

In solidarity,

Your AFT2121 Bargaining Team

Building Monitors

We are finally close to an agreement on building monitors! AFT 2121 proposed a framework for paid assignments, and the District seemed open to it. They may go ahead and put out a call for interested faculty as soon as this week.

However, we do not know when the assignments would actually begin. We are working with SEIU to hammer out details of pay and load. Building monitor work is under classified purview, and should be offered to classified first. Then faculty can fill in where there is still a need.

Here’s what we know so far:
– Assignments will be scheduled and paid.
– No one will be forced to be a door monitor while simultaneously doing other assigned work.
– Faculty who are not assigned as door monitors are not responsible for door monitor work.

If you’re interested in a door monitor assignment, go ahead and respond when the District puts out a call.

Tues 2/15 COPE Meeting–Let’s Get Out to the Polls and Into the Streets for Election Day!

During our Tuesday, February 15th regularly scheduled COPE meeting, we will not

be meeting on zoom BECAUSE…it’s election day! Instead, let’s make a showing at the polls and in the streets to increase turnout for this election! Can you join us Tuesday afternoon to volunteer for our endorsed candidate for District 17, David Campos, doing visibility and reminding voters to turn in ballots? We are encouraging members to attend during our regular COPE meeting time, but the 4-8pm shift is also a critical need, if you have flexibility that day. If you can’t join in on election day, there are volunteer shifts happening every day until then, so plenty of ways to pitch in! See you out there!

The Latest Heartbeat of CCSF Video is Live!

Watch, like, and share the latest AFT 2121 & SEIU 1021 collaborative #HeartbeatofCCSF video: Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook (click for links)

URGENT: Sign the NO LAYOFFS Card & Organize Your Colleagues to Sign

This is an urgent call to sign and talk to your colleagues about signing the No Layoffs Valentine’s Card to the Trustees. https://sites.google.com/view/generalfaculty/home

You have until Friday to show the Trustees that you’re strike ready, meaning you can get 70-80% of your colleagues to sign a card against layoffs. To do that by Friday, you need 300 more sign ups, so it’s time to organize!

Will you commit to encouraging 3 colleagues to sign your No Layoffs Card to the Trustees by end of day tomorrow? Share this link https://sites.google.com/view/generalfaculty/home & here’s a RAP/script for your conversations.

The Latest Heartbeat of CCSF Video is Live!

Watch, like, and share the latest AFT 2121 & SEIU 1021 collaborative #HeartbeatofCCSF video: Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook (click for links)

Bargaining Update: District continues to DRAG ITS FEET

On Thursday, February 3, your bargaining team came to the table ready to discuss building monitors and the CalSTRS retirement incentive.  

But once again, the district came to the table with no response to our CalSTRS retirement proposal. When AFT first proposed it back in Fall semester, the District said it was too early to think about it. Our team put in many hours, analyzed the cost, and provided the numbers. The District did nothing for months, and now they’re complaining that it’s too late in the year and they won’t have time to do the work of looking over the analysis our team already provided. Rather than seriously bargaining and considering the incentive and working with AFT 2121, the district is stalling. We have told David Martin that if his team does not respond at our next session, 2/10, we will understand that they are not bargaining.

We also call on the district to bargain in good faith regarding building monitors. Our agreement on building monitors is intended to keep us safe and support students and faculty who are on campus in person. Recently administration said they had a proposal, and our team was eager to hear it. But on Thursday, they came to the table with no proposal, only the suggestion that they want to sunset the building monitor agreement.

Now more than ever, we need to fight in solidarity against the impending layoff notices, and not fall for the district’s attempt to divide us. Now is the time to take action:

• Sign the “Valentine” to the board before they vote on issuing pink slips at the end of the month. We need large numbers of faculty to participate to show them that faculty are united against these cuts. This is a part of a series of escalating tactics to avoid layoffs and win a fair contract.

• Let the trustees know that San Francisco voters will hold them accountable when four seats open up in November. Share these Facebook and Twitter links.

• Show up in solidarity to open bargaining on February 10. We expect them to bargain in good faith and provide a response to our CalSTRS retirement incentive proposal during this session. Register in advance for this meeting:
  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrdO2hqjIqHtS6Uj8du2mnz-soveCfAdL8
  
  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

In Solidarity,

Your AFT2121 Bargaining Team

Reminder: FSA Deadline Feb 15th

CCSF administration has posted an updated FSA list for full-time faculty. It is still a work in progress, but it does include some updates since last Spring. You can download the new list (dated 2/2/22) and apply for additional FSAs on the Employee Services Website. The deadline to apply is February 15th.

More information about FSAs and Seniority for FT faculty here.

(Tues. 2/15) COPE & DA

All AFT 2121 members are invited to participate in your Committee on Political Education (COPE) and Delegate Assembly (DA) meetings Tuesday, February 15, from 1:30-3pm (COPE) and 3-5pm (DA).

Committee on Political Education, Tuesday, 2/15 at 1:30pm

At Tuesday’s 2/15 COPE meeting, we will work on a final Get Out The Vote push for our endorsed candidate for assemblymember in AD 17, David Campos.

• Check out the AFT 2121 voter guide for the Feb. 15 election.
• Sign up to help Campos win!

Delegate Assembly, Tuesday, 2/15 from 3-5pm

Join your colleagues and get involved in the work to win your campaign to stop the layoffs, prevent class cuts, bring in revenue to the college, and restore pay.  

• DA Agenda

• DRAFT Minutes

To attend either of these meetings, 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.

AFT 2121 Election Commission & Tentative AFT 2121 Leadership Election Timeline

At last month’s meetings Delegates approved a tentative AFT 2121 Leadership Election Timeline. Delegates also appointed AFT 2121 members Janey Skinner, Chad Stephenson, Mitra Sapienza and Melissa McPeters to oversee your AFT 2121 Leadership elections. The election commission members will be meeting soon to decide logistical details about AFT 2121 leadership elections.