District continues to be nonresponsive to central concerns of faculty

The district continues to be Nonresponsive to areas of critical concern to the faculty. Here are actions that AFT has taken since we learned about the change in load/pay for conference hours.

On September 14, 2015, we protested the District’s unilateral change in load for conference hours in a communication to Micky Branca, Dean of Employee Relations, as follows: “It has come to our attention that the District, through the Curriculum Committee, is unilaterally converting credit “conference” hours to lab hours, lowering the workload and pay for conference hours. We protest this unilateral change and demand that the District maintain/restore the lecture load factor for all conference hours. Please let me know your disposition regarding this request.”

On Wednesday, September 16 during negotiations asked the district to stop their unilateral decision to change pay and working conditions for many faculty with the imposition of new load/pay for conference hours. Yet yesterday there was no response from the district on this matter that is so urgent and time sensitive.

Faculty need and deserve significant increases in pay after years of givebacks and wage cuts. We oppose the threatened cut in “conference” hour pay. Join us in upcoming informational picketing to demand a substantial salary increase and a fair contract! Contact Vice President Alan D’Souza (adsouza@aft2121.org) for more info.

On September 9 we posed a series of questions to the district about the new about-to-be adopted budget. At that meeting they told us they would be ready on September 16 to answer our questions. Before September 16 we were informed that it would not be until September 23 that the district would respond to these questions.

Yesterday the district came in and continued to be Nonresponsive to our central areas of concern. We still do not have the financial information on reserves and actual spending for last year that we have been requesting for months that is needed to engage in the serious back and forth of negotiations over compensation. Meanwhile, AFT 2121 did put forward new proposed language on Load, District email, and Commencement Exercises. We await the District response.