Monthly Archives: January 2026

Strike Authorization Vote: March 10–12, 2026

Dear union siblings,

I am excited to announce that our Count On Me campaign was a success, with 99% of members responding that they will vote YES in a strike authorization vote.  Therefore:

Our union’s first-ever strike authorization vote will be March 10-12th, 2026!

Please mark your calendars and plan to vote (both in-person and online options will be available).  If you use Google calendar, here’s a link to add it to your calendar.

This is a reflection of the incredible work you have done organizing your colleagues and talking to them about fighting together for what we deserve.  There is still much work to be done to win a fair contract from the District, but this is a significant achievement.

In the weeks to come, we will be sharing more details about the status of our impasse negotiations, the logistics of the strike authorization vote, and the timing and logistics of a potential strike, but below is a brief Q&A about the strike authorization vote.

  1. What is a “Strike Authorization Vote?”

A strike authorization vote is a standard democratic process for union members to empower their leadership to call a strike if circumstances warrant.  A strike authorization does not necessarily mean a strike will happen, but rather gives our union the authority to call a strike.

We have been bargaining with the District since February 2025, and while we’ve had some successes (winning binding arbitration for grievances and more concrete rights for accommodations), the District has been highly resistant to making better offers on issues of high importance to our members, such as fair compensation increases, academic freedom, better health and dental coverage, pay parity, and lab parity.  We will continue working to win a fair contract through impasse mediation and the impasse process, but the bottom line is that a strong “Yes” strike authorization vote is necessary to apply meaningful pressure on the District to make real movement toward a fair contract.

 

  1. How does the strike authorization vote work?

Members of AFT 1493 will be eligible to vote, and ballots will be confidential.  We will be providing both in-person and online voting options, and voting will be open Tuesday, March 10th through Thursday, March 12th.  A simple 50%+1 majority is necessary to authorize the union to call a strike; however, for our strike authorization vote to have maximum impact, we will be aiming for a much higher percentage of “Yes” votes.  Based on the responses to our Count On Me campaign, we are highly confident we will have a very successful strike authorization vote!

 

  1. If a strike were called, when would a strike occur?

That depends on the impasse process and ultimately would be up to our members.  It would not occur prior to the end of the impasse process, which could take several more months.  Ideally, a Yes vote results in better offers from the District and we settle the contract without needing to call for a strike.  However, if the District doesn’t meaningfully improve their offers and we are unable to settle the contract during the impasse process, our union, through consultation with you and our members, would plan a strike to occur sometime after the impasse procedure concludes.

For more Strike FAQs, see the document we shared at the beginning of the Count On Me campaign.  Don’t hesitate to reach out to your campus union reps or me with questions!

In Solidarity,

Chet Lexvold
Executive Director
San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT 1493
lexvold@aft1493.org
(650) 395-8347

Bay Area Faculty Association Expresses “Unstinting Support” for AFT 1493

26 January, 2026

Dear Trustees and Chancellor Moreno,

The Bay Faculty Association (BFA) is a regional consortium of California Community College faculty unions in the greater San Francisco Bay area.  Membership is open to unions of any affiliation–AFT, CFT, CTA, independent, et al–and currently includes members from as far afield as Santa Rosa and Modesto.  While there are many distinctions between our colleges, one of the things we all share is an interest in working collaboratively with our Colleges/Districts to resolve our conflicts and establish sustainable working conditions.

We are therefore incredulous that the San Mateo Community College District has declared impasse and is refusing to negotiate with their Faculty Union (AFT 1493), who are long standing BFA members.  Arguably the biggest difference that needs to be settled is the District’s refusal to negotiate an “Academic Freedom” contract article.  In this political moment, when the federal government is leaning on institutions of higher education nationwide to capitulate to ideological demands that stifle free speech, it should be no surprise how important academic freedom is to our faculty.  It would be one thing if our system leaders in the UC, CSU and CCC’s stood up in unison to such threats, but regardless, their willingness to capitulate reinforces the imperative that faculty unions have to stand up for themselves.  We have seen this most recently in the preliminary injunction granted to plaintiffs in AAUP et al -vs- Trump et al, a complaint on behalf of which a number of California Community College unions filed an amicus brief (see attached).  I don’t think the San Mateo district really wants to see itself on the wrong side of this equation when the smoke clears.

Your District’s non-compliance with the CCC’s 50% law is likely one of the main contributors to your inertia at the bargaining table.  You have been out of compliance for so long (and currently spend only around 40% of total revenue on instructional salaries) that perhaps your complacency towards it informs your bargaining around other aspects of instruction.  Currently San Mateo CCD and College of Marin are the only Districts in the Bay Area that are out of compliance, and San Mateo is by far the largest outlier at 42%.  While it may seem satisfying to simply thumb one’s nose at the Chancellor’s office since you no longer receive funding (as well as penalties) through apportionment, there is an ethical dimension here that other Basic Aid Districts (including my own) seem well aware of.  It is that public dollars need to be spent on the primary reason students come to our colleges in the first place–taking classes and learning.  Although I am uncertain of the precise numbers in your District, systemwide there has been a decline of funding spent on instructional salaries (50% being the floor, not the ceiling) even while there is a huge increase in the number of administrative positions hired and the rate at which they are compensated.

Which brings me to a final point: salaries.  Regardless of the total institutional funding applied to faculty salaries, the wages paid to individual faculty need to provide them with a liveable wage, a point that should be no surprise to anyone living in the greater Bay Area.  Yet considering the rate of inflation over the past several years, the 2.75% increase you proposed at the table is a pittance of what faculty need just to break even!  This is in stark contrast with the continuous increases in your tax revenue over the past 15 years, which averaged 6.43% in the last 5 years alone.  Accordingly, the Bay Faculty Association expresses our unstinting support of the San Mateo Community College Faculty Union’s efforts.  Should this matter lead to a strike, you will be facing not just one union, but a collective of unions, which may include direct participation in your union’s work actions as well as our own forays in the public relations sphere.  We implore you to return to the negotiations table now, before this situation devolves into a more costly, time consuming matter likely to embarrass your District in the court of public opinion and lead to regrettable outcomes not easily undone.

Sincerely,

Tim Shively
Bay Faculty Association President
Foothill-De Anza Faculty Association President

Member of Congress Mullin Tells Moreno to Follow the Law!

Click here to read a PDF of Member of Congress Mullin’s letter to Chancellor Moreno.