San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT 1493

Minutes of
General Membership/Executive Committee Meeting
April 26, 2006 at College Vista Community Room

Members Present: Yaping Li, Annie Nicols, Nina Floro, Rick Hough, Teeka James, Karen Olesen, John Kirk, Victoria Clinton, Joaquin Rivera, Katharine Harer, Eric Brenner, Dan Kaplan, Ernie Rodriguez, Kathleen Feinblum, Sandy Raeber, Monica Malamud, Chip Chandler

Guests: Nick Kapp, Ron Brown, Ann Freeman, Elizabeth Terzakis, Chuck Carlson, Deirdre Slack

The meeting came to order at 2:15

NEGOTIATIONS

The majority of the discussion was devoted to negotiations. The District offered a 4 year contract with the current contract ending in June, then a three year contract starting thereafter. The current negotiations are seeking increases in these three areas: 1) Benefits 2) Salary and 3) Part Time office hours.

The District’s offer was as follows:

	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Wages	3.23%	4.68%	2.88%	2.88%
Benefits	.38%	.5%	.5%	.5%
PT office hours	.62% ($270k total)	.62%	.62%	.62%
Total	4.23%	5.8%	4% (3.4 predicted COLA)	4%

The District’s proposal represents an 18% increase over 4 years, with a salary increase of 13.67% over those 4 years.

The AFT’s counter proposal was as follows:

	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09
Wages	3.23%	5%	4.38%	4.38%
Benefits	.38%	.38%	.5%	.5%
PT office hours	.62% ($270k total)	.62%	.62%	.62%
Total	4.23%	6%	6% or 5.5%	2.8%

The counter proposal would give us a 15.73% increase in total compensation and a 12.61% increase in wages over four years. But upon discussion, the EC rejected the 4th year all together because a contract for that long would lock out any possibility of adjustment. It is hard to predict what the economy will look like in 4 years. Instead, the AFT negotiators proposed a fourth year increase of 5% or COLA +1.5 - 2 %, whichever is higher. The AFT negotiators went back to the table, and emerged a half an hour later with the news that the District had rejected the AFT counterproposal and that negotiations had reached an impasse. Discussion ensued to formulate a campaign plan, which could inform faculty that whereas the District’s offer of 18% looks good “on paper”, it virtually locks up our options. As well, the campaign plan would pressure the Board and District negotiator to reexamine their offer. Ideas for the Campaign Plan were as follows:

· Write and distribute Blue Sheets which highlight specific calculations in a manner easy to understand.

· Use the signatures gathered from petitions and the contract letter writing campaign as a database for activists. Indeed, the letters and petitions the AFT had sent regarding the District’s offer of $0 outraged the District negotiators and may have broken deadlock, thus moving the negotiations forward.

· Encourage a large group of faculty to protest at a board meeting and inform the press to cover the event.

· Push to have more signatures on the petitions.

· Use a more extreme tactic by following the “work to rule” procedures whereby faculty only work what is designated in the contract. This means for example, stopping work on accreditation and not taking any overloads in classes.

· Write and distribute a Blue Sheet which compares our salaries with those of the administration.

· Remind the District of our workload and uncompensated hours and its obsession with “productivity.”

· Create buttons and t-shirts with slogans which can promote dialog between faculty and faculty and students.

Rick Hough, Chip Chandler, Eric Brenner, Katharine Harer and Teeka James volunteered to create a Blue Sheet to deconstruct the District’s 18% offer as being counter to faculty interests. An email will go out to all faculty which will present the message and encourage faculty feedback.

SUPPORT OF IMMIGRANTS RIGHTS - Elizabeth Terzakis

Elizabeth Terzakis proposed an AFT initiated walkout on May 1 to support immigrants’ rights. She suggested that this walk out, in which many schools and organizations will participate, could be tied to the current conflict with the District. Members of the AFT responded, saying that though they supported the idea, it was just too short a notice to arrange an effective walkout. As well, because our situation is fragile with the District and with many conservative faculty, a walk out may backfire at this point in time. It was suggested that Elizabeth work on a resolution to be put up to a vote for the next EC meeting and that she write an article concerning the current immigrant debate for the Advocate.

AFT POSTER CONTEST - Karen Olesen

The AFT voted for the winner of the Official AFT Poster Contest. The winning poster, selected from nine entries, was created by Ruth Strang, student at Canada College’s Multimedia Art and Technology class, taught by Professor Jean Mecorney. Ms. Strang will receive an award of $100.

The meeting ended at 4:30.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Feinblum

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