Your paycheck: Correct OPEB deductions this month!
This week’s paychecks mark real progress and show that our collective work has borne some fruit. The District has agreed to correct the ongoing OPEB over-deductions. As we’ve previously reported, City College has been over-deducting for OPEB (retiree health benefits) from hundreds of faculty for years in violation of our contract. AFT 2121 has an arbitration date set for May with the District, but, through our petition and ongoing advocacy, we have been encouraging the District to settle the matter and make faculty whole now. The alternative is to move forward with the arbitration process and spend even more college resources on legal bills.
Tenured and tenure-track full-time faculty should see the following starting with your February paycheck. The deduction should be marked OPEB or RHCTF.
– If you were hired FT in January 2014 or after: The deduction should be 2% of salary.
– If you were hired FT before January 2014: The deduction should be 1% of salary.
OPEB is a retirement benefit available to full-time faculty, and is not available to part-time and categorical faculty. Part-timers and categorical faculty should not have an OPEB deduction on your paycheck.
Ending the over-deductions is a great start, but we need to keep up the pressure and insist that the District make full repayment of past overdeductions to all impacted faculty. If you haven’t signed on yet, please add your name to the petition calling on our Board of Trustees and the Chancellor to do the right thing for faculty and our college: https://actionnetwork.org/
If your current OPEB deduction is not correct, you should report the problem to AFT and HR here: https://leadernet.aft.org/
This progress is another example that when we work together, we can fix issues at this college. Let’s keep working on building a college where all groups work together for the good of our students.
Thursday, 2/29 last day to join Sick Leave Bank
The Voluntary Sick Leave Bank or VSLB is a union benefit that AFT 2121 fought for and won through collective advocacy. VSLB provides income protection for up to 100 days for faculty who experience catastrophic illness or injury. Both full- and part-time faculty are eligible, and we encourage everyone to participate.
You should have received notice a few weeks ago in your ccsf.edu email that you have an opportunity to join the Voluntary Sick Leave Bank (VSLB). Faculty can choose to join VSLB and contribute small amounts of sick leave to the bank to protect yourself and provide vital support for colleagues. Only faculty who have joined VSLB are eligible to apply for VSLB benefits.
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All faculty are eligible to enroll in VSLB, although there are only a few times that enrollment is possible. This call for contributions is one of the rare chances to join.
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Faculty working full-time can receive up to 100 days of half-pay sick leave. That can run concurrently with Partially Paid Sick Leave (17.D) to provide full pay.
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Faculty working part-time can receive up to 100 days at your current load. That can supplement your SDI benefits and fill in the waiting period for SDI benefits, to provide full pay.
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If you are already a member and want to stay a member, do not fill out the form. Your contribution will automatically be deducted from your sick leave. No need to respond to the email.
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To find out if you are a VSLB member, email aft@aft2121.org
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To join or quit the VSLB, use the membership form. It looks like the only way to access the form is from the link in your ccsf.edu email, sent 2/8/24. The last day to submit the form is 2/29/24.
More detail here.
Keenan Data Breach
Many of us have recently received worrying letters about a data breach at Keenan & Associates. Your union has been working to gather more information about this breach. The letters say there was a “cybersecurity incident” in August 2023. The breach reportedly affected 1.5 million people, and we have verified that it includes CCSF faculty, faculty dependants, classified staff, and administrators. We know that CCSF uses Keenan for the SERP and some other financial services, but it is unclear to many faculty why they have received these notices. Faculty need to know what data has been released. AFT 2121 has made multiple information requests asking the District what information they have shared with Keenan, but so far we have not received a definitive answer.
We have recently learned that Keenan is facing a class-action lawsuit because of this breach. We’ll share more information when we can, but in the meantime it is a good idea to check your credit report and consider putting a freeze or additional monitoring on your credit.
AFT Leadership Elections Coming Soon
Elections for AFT Leadership are coming up this spring. All AFT 2121 members in good standing will be getting elections information and nomination forms via email in the next week. The nominations process will conclude at our upcoming General Membership meeting at 3PM on March 19. Voting for precinct reps, officers, and delegates to the national convention and more will take place online April 15-29. Stay tuned for more information!
Register now for the COCAL Conference
August 8 -10, 2024
The XVth COCAL conference will focus on the many challenges facing contract academic staff as contingent academic labor, and the means we can use to mobilize and address them. You can learn more about the conference and COCAL here. Conference Flyer
California Labor: Yesterday & Today
Sunday Forum with Fred Glass | March 10 – 9:30 am
In person with breakfast at 9AM @ First Unitarian Universalist, 1187 Franklin Street, SF, Thomas Starr King Room or at 9: 30 on Zoom.
You can phone in at +1 669 444 9171. Meeting ID: 917 5963 9495, Passcode: 740890
This talk is being given by Fred Glass, author, labor historian, former communications director for the California Federation of Teachers and retired CCSF faculty.
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