Colleagues,

We are officially at impasse in our negotiations with the District, and remain far apart on many issues. In our AFT Membership Meeting yesterday, we discussed the impasse process and heard from two faculty who have been on strike before. More information on both the impasse process and going on strike is below.

The most important thing we need to do now is to build a credible strike threat and achieve strike readiness. We need you to sign our “Count On Me” card, indicating that you will vote YES in a strike authorization vote if impasse does not result in a settlement. We started with 1:1 outreach last week, and already over 20% of our members have signed the Count On Me form.

⇒ Can we Count On You? If yes, please follow the link and fill out the form!

We have scheduled Informational Watercooler Talks this Friday and Monday for folks who missed yesterday’s meeting and/or want more information and a chance for Q&A.

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Stories from Faculty Who Went on Strike

Yesterday in our membership meeting, one of our members, Ben Feldman, along with Brian Greene from Yosemite Faculty Association, shared inspiring stories of going on strike with their colleagues and winning major gains in their contracts. There were many important takeaways from their stories, but a few that stood out to me: 1) strikes work – when faculty strike, they win, and they win quickly!; 2) strikes grow solidarity and camaraderie amongst members; and 3) faculty have the legal right to strike and the District cannot retaliate, and even more importantly, by going on strike together with 90+% of their colleagues, faculty protect each other. There is power and safety in numbers!  For more information about impasse and going on strike, see our FAQs.

With that in mind, can we Count On You to vote yes in a potential strike authorization vote in spring semester?

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Here’s a quick summary of major items we’re still fighting for:

Issue	AFT Proposal	District Proposal
Compensation	6% annual raises	3% annual raises
Health Insurance	District pays 92% of premiums for 2-party/ family Kaiser plans	District pays 89% of premiums for 2-party/ family Kaiser plans
Dental	$4,000	$2,000
Paid Parental Leave	20 days	0 days
Equal Work for Equal Pay	Pay by Load, Full-Time Overload at Parity	No counter / countered with status quo
Lab Parity	Increase load for most labs, English/Math (Calculus) workload adjustments	No counter / countered with status quo

 

Impasse can take several months and includes mandatory, confidential mediation, followed by fact-finding. At the end of that process, if we do not settle our contract, we would have the legal right to strike, so it’s imperative we get strike-ready as soon as possible!

Finally, you can show solidarity with our UC union siblings in AFSCME 3299 who are going on strike November 17th and 18th at several locations across California by joining them on the picket line! There are several UC campuses & medical centers in the Bay Area to join- see the flyer for details.

 

In Solidarity,

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