In this issue:

• How AB 1705 would reduce course offerings and negatively impact community college students
  Assembly Bill 1705, a proposed bill currently being considered by the state legislature, has the stated goal of improving transfer rates, but would, in fact, “result in severe negative impacts for students who need these resources the most.”
• AFT 1493 Teach-In exposes truths about District’s inequitable budget decisions
  The May 12th Teach-In, which was a collaboration between AFT’s student interns and the Contract Action Team (CAT),  focused on the power and influence of our district’s funding decisions on our students’ education
• How does SMCCCD adjunct instructional pay compare to neighboring districts?
  A detailed look at how actual pay-per-class compensation for SMCCCD adjuncts compares to the five other districts between San Jose and Marin
• As Covid cases increase, Chancellor to propose lifting District mask mandate
  AFT Health and Safety Committee reps encourage all faculty, especially those who have particular concerns, to complete the District survey on mask requirements and express their views at the May 25 Board of Trustees meeting
• AFT and District negotiating teams hold first bargaining session for 2022-25 faculty contract
  Negotiations report on May 4 bargaining session
• Review of information on the new workload point system:
  •  Why we are piloting the workload point system
  •  New Workload Pilot Project FAQs
• AFT 1493 reps attend CFT’s conference and lobby day supporting “Equity for Contingent Faculty”
  AFT1493 members went to Sacramento to strategize and lobby for improved benefits and rights for adjunct faculty
• “Week of Action” launched campaign for new faculty contract
  Review of multiple actions held April 18 – 22 to kick off the campaign to win the new contract we all deserve!
• AFT 1493 annual scholarship awarded to Skyline student Win Shwe Yee
  AFT’s scholarship recognizes an exceptional student who demonstrates a commitment to social justice, especially worker justice.
• Brief items:
  •  Adjunct faculty reminders: Apply for unemployment benefits & submit medical reimbursement forms
  •  CFT’s Voter Guide provides recommendations for June primary
  •  Join AFT 1493’s Summer Book Club
  •  CSM & Skyline Film Studies instructor premieres new documentary

In this issue:

• Negotiations update: As initial proposals for new faculty contract are “sunshined,” AFT asks members to complete “Count On Me” cards
  On Feb. 23, the Board of Trustees officially received AFT’s initial proposals for the next contract, which will cover July 2022-June 2025. These proposals include…
• Our Contract Action Team (CAT) is growing!  On-the-ground faculty point people help activate members to join the campaign for the contract we deserve!
  CAT has launched a new effort to build faculty power, asking leaders in every department across the three colleges to take on the role of CAT “point people.”
• AFT survey finds 50% of faculty comfortable with continuing district mask requirement, 50% comfortable with ending it
  466 district faculty (a little more than half of all district faculty) responded to our survey.
• Adjunct faculty: Please take the CFT Part-Time Healthcare Survey to help improve health coverage for community college adjunct faculty
  The CFT is working to improve adjunct healthcare across the state. We need to adjuncts to take this survey to help us do it.
• CFT and Academic Senates collaborate on statewide campaign to enable discipline faculty to determine appropriate class size
  Since July, community college union leaders across California have been meeting to map out a strategy that ensures faculty have input in determining class size. The first goal is to push for a resolution at the State Academic Senate Plenary in April.
• AFT 1493’s Anti-Oppression Committee launches a petition for gender justice at our colleges
  The Committee has finalized a petition that demands more transparent Title IX investigation and reporting processes for the faculty, staff and students in SMCCCD.
  
• Faculty Focus: LaShonda Kennedy, equity champion and community advocate
  LaShonda Kennedy is an adjunct Work Experience Instructor and Spark Point Basic Needs Coordinator at CSM. I talked with LaShonda about community service, her various roles in Workplace Education at CSM, and adjunct faculty rights.
• CFT passes resolution to develop a strategy to end the two-tier system in California community colleges
  The CFT State Council passed a resolution to develop a strategic plan to end the system in which adjunct faculty have lower pay and benefits, less secure positions and less privileged working conditions than full-time faculty.
• What does it mean to be an anti-racist union? Reviewing the history of racism and anti-racism in organized labor
  At our February membership meeting, Cañada College Chapter Chair Michael Hoffman led a discussion about the history of organized labor and race in the U.S. and what it means to be an anti-racist union.
• Social Justice in the Community:
  •   Campaign for free universal preschool in South San Francisco gathering signatures for November ballot
  •   South City Councilmember James Coleman running corporate-free progressive campaign for local State Assembly seat

In this issue:

• AFT’s Campaign for Safe Campuses: A review
  
  While our district was not prepared with promised Covid testing for all, nor with adequate supplies of N95/KN95 masks for all students, district administrators nevertheless did not allow faculty or staff the option to temporarily move to remote work.
• AFT continues organizing for safer campuses
  Each of our colleges held their first health and safety committee meetings of the semester.
• Opinion: ‘Students first’ should mean strong, clear health & safety policies and transparency from administration
  Perhaps I was too trusting that those in power would do the right thing and put ‘students first’.
• Part-time faculty have rights to stability in assignments
  Know your rights: AFT’s contract offers a number of appointment stability protections to adjuncts
• Member action leads governor to pledge $200 million toward part-time faculty healthcare
  
  CFT’s campaign to win affordable, quality healthcare for part-time faculty brings early success in Newsom’s state budget proposal
• Don’t mourn – organize! Building our Contract Action Team network, department by department
  Our union just launched a new member-to-member Contract Action Team (CAT) outreach drive, with the goal of strengthening our ability to engage and turn out members for our upcoming contract campaign.
• Black History Month resources available from CFT
  
  In observation of Black History Month, the CFT has organized a collection of resources that highlight the work of Black educators and labor organizers and reflect on how we can advance the ongoing struggle for racial justice.

In this issue:

• AFT continues to work for a safe Spring return
  
  As the Spring term quickly approaches, your AFT representatives have stepped up their advocacy work for a safe return to campus for all. Your participation remains as important as ever!
• What’s it like to work in-person this Fall: Faculty members share their perspectives on returning to F2F teaching and counseling this semester
  
  As most faculty look ahead to a full return to in-person instruction in January, we interviewed some of the few faculty who have been working on campus this semester to learn more about the experiences.
• How enrollment declines have impacted part-time faculty in our district
  SMCCCD enrollment has experienced major declines since the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic. AFT 1493 is working to see the impacts on adjuncts minimized.
• Report on negotiations on MOU regarding Spring 2022 working conditions
• Reminders to adjunct faculty members: Apply for unemployment benefits between semesters & submit medical reimbursement forms by Dec. 31
• South San Francisco coalition prepares for Free Early Care and Education for All ballot measure
• Join a conversation between faculty and Trustee John Pimentel on December 9
• Current faculty contract is finally available online
  After some technical delays, the complete faculty contract that was ratified last May is now available by clicking on the link above.

In this issue:

• Health and safety concerns remain central as some faculty return to in-person work in Fall and most others prepare to return to campus in Jan.
  Faculty members raise concerns about returning to in-person work at campus health & safety committees, but don’t receive adequate answers to many questions
• As Skyline and Cañada counselors were asked to return to in-person work this fall, they called out unsafe conditions and inconsistent policies–and, with union support–won important gains
  Over 300 faculty signed a petition in support of a safe and fair return to campus for counseling faculty and administrators adjusted the policies.
• AFT presents results of faculty evaluations of administrators and continues to call for true “360 evaluations” of administrators
  All faculty and staff should be able to anonymously evaluate their administrators.
• AFT calls for re-opening of negotiations on 2021-22 raise for district faculty
  The salary formula in the current contract provides for a very low 0.52% raise this year, but the district’s budget could clearly provide a reasonable raise.
• Meet Sarah Harmon, Cañada Spanish professor, OER supporter and long-time advocate for the rights of adjunct faculty
  This issue’s “Faculty Focus” feature.
• Personal reflections on vision impairment, teaching & accessibility in SMCCCD
  Skyline Professor Lori Slicton describes the difficulties of teaching–including working on Comprehensive Program Review–with a significant vision impairment.