More than 90 faculty members from all three colleges crowded the District Board Room on Wednesday evening, Nov. 20, to support nine courageous colleagues who spoke eloquently to the Trustees about why faculty need a fair contract. They urged the administration and elected leaders to do the right thing by addressing workload issues, equity for part-timers, progressive discipline and due process, laboratory load credits, counselor workload, and compensation amid the deepening affordability crisis.

Watch each of the faculty member’s presentations below:

Rosemary Nurre, CSM Accounting Professor, asked the Board to imagine faculty who feel trusted and respected:

Michael Cross, Skyline College English Professor, spoke about the excessive, unsustainable workload faced by SMCCCD faculty:

  

 

Timothy Rottenberg, adjunct Government and Economics Instructor at Skyline Middle College, spoke about the need for parity between SMCCCD part-time and full-time faculty salaries:

 

 

Arielle Smith, CSM Counselor and Academic Senate President, asked for recognition and support for the extensive range of counselors’ work that is so much more than what is written in the contract:

 

 

Bridget Fischer, Skyline College Art Professor & Michelle Hawkins, Skyline College Music Professor, spoke about the need to remove SMCCCD’s current tiered system of lab FLC allocation:

 

 

Patty Dilko Hall, Cañada College Early Childhood Education Professor, shared the extreme and long-lasting effects she experienced due to the lack of  investigations, due process and progressive discipline language in the contract:

 

 

Jesse Raskin, Skyline College Paralegal Professor, spoke about how making an investment in justice for faculty members allows faculty members to make an investment in justice for students:

 

 

Joaquin Rivera, Skyline College Chemistry Professor and AFT 1493 President and Chief Negotiator, spoke about the problems with the District-imposed total compensation bargaining model and how the District has plenty of money to pay for faculty’s proposals if they make it a priority:

 

 

 

 

 

 

S is for SOLIDARITY. And S is for SALARIES! Our Administrators’ salaries rank #1 in California. (Let me repeat: Number One!) Not so for Faculty (Read up!) Is this Fair?

Are you ready to win a Fair Contract this November? Here are ACTIONS you can take:

• STAND in solidarity with your colleagues who will speak out at the Nov. 20 Board of Trustees meeting. Join us and sign up–over 50 faculty across the District have already committed to show up!
  • Gather at 5:00pm at CSM Bldg. 1-244 for pizza & sign making. Arrive at 6:00pm BOT meeting at 3401 CSM Drive where we’ll hold signs and hear faculty speakers tell the Board WHY we deserve a Fair Contract!
  • SEE footage of our dramatic BOT action in 2016 here.
• SPORT a new Faculty Deserve A Fair Contract placard on your office door. Ask your AFT chapter chair if you don’t have one yet!
• SLIP on your #RedforEd AFT1493 T-shirt on bargaining days. New T-shirt orders have arrived! Ask any AFT leader for a new T-shirt. Please include your size.
• SAY thanks to colleagues who worked in the successful AFT Contract Action Drive. We heard your concerns firsthand! Follow our AFT Facebook page to see more photos from our drive!