Bargaining Update: August 22

AFT 2121 is bargaining for a stronger City College—for the good of our members and our students. At Tuesday’s session with Chancellor Martin’s team, we:

Reached a Tentative Agreement on Article 8– “Duties and Responsibilities”

AFT gave the District a counter proposal for Article 8 on Duties/Responsibilities, in which the district and AFT finalized our terms on the use of District email and learning management system. We reached a tentative agreement on this proposal (link).

Received an Inadequate Salary Proposal & Offered Our Own Counter Proposal:

David Martin’s team increased their previously proposed salaries for 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 by 1% for 24-25, while continuing to ignore AFT’s proposals for salary increases for the two previous academic years (21-22 & 22-23) during which faculty lived in a period of record inflation without a new contract and without raises. The District also again Tuesday rejected AFT’s proposals regarding initial salary schedule placement for nurse practitioners, stipends for athletic coaches, severance, and additional steps for part-time faculty. These decisions put the health of our programs at risk.

David Martin continued a troubling practice Tuesday of not preparing his team to have an informed discussion around the college’s budget and their proposals–AFT has made clear that the college has the money for making faculty salaries competitive, and Martin continues to reject doing so without explanation. It is time for David Martin to show his work and negotiate in good faith with the faculty who have devoted their lives to this college. City College programs cannot maintain their reputation for excellence if they cannot attract and retain quality faculty.

At Tuesday’s session, AFT immediately presented the District with our counter economic proposal (link) that reflects what faculty deserve and what our college can afford. Your AFT Team has been working diligently to press forward sensible proposals that the District can afford while continuing to increase course offerings and enrollment.

What’s next:

Please stay tuned for our next open bargaining session dates and come and bring a colleague or two! For more information and updates on AFT’s organizing work, come to the delegate assembly meeting on Tuesday, August 29 (link here).

In solidarity,

Your AFT 2121 Bargaining Team

Join Open Bargaining Today 8/22 from 1-2:30pm in MUB 251 (Ocean Campus)

Your AFT 2121 Bargaining Team will be continuing its negotiations for a new contract with the District today Tuesday, August 22, from 1-2:30pm in MUB 251.

We’re expecting Chancellor Martin and his team to respond to your economic proposals for more competitive salaries, a key step in improving faculty morale and strengthening City College’s vital programs, which need to be able to recruit and retain quality faculty for the good of our college and students. Join us today in MUB 251 at 1pm.

Bargaining w/the District for More Competitive Salaries & a Fair Contract Starts Again Next Week

Your AFT 2121 Bargaining Team will be negotiating again with the District next Tuesday, August 8, from 1pm-5pm in MUB 261. Your bargaining team is fighting for more competitive salaries (at or above the Bay 10 median) and a fair contract for all faculty. We urge Chancellor Martin and his administrative team to adopt the same goal since a fair contract for faculty is essential to improving morale and attracting and retaining the educational excellence that has long distinguished our school.

With the accreditation visit this fall, it’s imperative that Chancellor Martin exhibit more effective leadership in these negotiations, so that both parties can make meaningful progress and ensure the stability of our college. As our college’s leader, Chancellor Martin needs to empower his representatives in negotiations and ensure they are prepared, equipped to make decisions, and ready to find win-win solutions for the good of our faculty, our students, and our city. Anything less is frankly a failure of leadership.

See proposals, counter-proposals, and tentative agreements in these negotiations here.

Part-time Employment Letters

The District has started to mail employment letters to part-time faculty. These letters ask us to accept our Fall assignments.
– These letters do not change the terms of employment or any employment rights.
– They do not have any impact on EDD benefits.
– You are not required to sign or return these letters.

Like last year, these letters do not actively misstate the law, but paint an incomplete picture. The letters probably won’t say anything about the contractual rights that protect assignments and employment.

Although the letter instructs us to sign that we “accept” the “contract”, this is not an actual contract and we are not required to sign or return the letters. Your AFT team reached out to HR and has confirmed that there will be no consequences to faculty who do not return the letters.

Data leak Impacting STRS and CalPERS Retirees and Beneficiaries (Not Currently Active Employees)

In June both the CalSTRS and CalPERS systems announced that data from a third-party vendor had leaked, impacting hundreds of thousands of retirees and beneficiaries in both systems. The leak did not impact actively employed members of either system. For more information, click here.