When will I receive my retroactive raise & restoration for 21-22?

Payroll is working on implementing your retroactive payment for your new (9% higher) salary for this fiscal year. AFT 2121 is in constant touch with payroll to ensure this payment occurs as quickly as possible, and we hope that payroll is able to process the first round of retroactive payments in January.

The pay out for your salary cut in 2021-2 will take longer than these first retroactive payments. AFT 2121 is working with payroll on this matter and expects the payments to go out as direct deposits or checks in the spring.

Details & Further Takeaways on Ratification Vote

300 out of 318 FT eligible members voted

286 out of 428 PT eligible members voted

More FT faculty voted in the ratification of our tentative agreement, despite there having been more eligible PT faculty voters. Department chairs who are members are not eligible to vote on TAs. In AFT leadership elections, all members, including chairs, are permitted to vote.

Why were there more eligible part-timers?

The proportion of part-timers has increased at City College because the administration has made a deliberate effort to reduce the number of full-time faculty. This leads to the over-work of full-time faculty, erodes the working conditions of our profession for all, and undermines the service we can provide students. Adjunctification is bad for all faculty and bad for students.

The part-time payscale at CCSF is set at 86% of the full-time scale. This percentage is called pro-rata, and it is higher at CCSF than at many other colleges. For years at City College, the pro-rata pay of part-time faculty acted as a bulwark against efforts to reduce the proportion of full-time faculty at CCSF by de-incentivizing the college from replacing full-time faculty with part-timers. The pro-rata payscale is good for full-time faculty job security. This helps explain why City College had been an exception in a higher ed landscape increasingly dominated by adjunct faculty. That is now changing.

The administration’s ongoing refusal to replace FT positions when faculty leave or retire, and the recent, unprecedented layoff of tenured and tenure-track faculty has brought adjunctification to City College. Chancellor David Martin has made it very clear that a major goal of his has been to reduce the proportion of full-time faculty at our school, that is, to undermine tenure and promote the adjunctification of our community.

Who benefits from undermining FT faculty?  

The savings higher education institutions have garnered through increasing the proportion of PT faculty has not benefited those FT faculty left. Rather, it has benefited administrators–the number and pay of administrators has skyrocketed since the 1970s, while the salaries and working conditions of faculty have deteriorated. Faculty have been part of America’s disappearing middle class.

For more on this, see a recent report from the American Institute for Economic Research: “In 1970, tenured and tenure-track professors made up 78 percent of all teaching faculty. Now that percentage has reversed, with 73 percent of faculty positions being ‘adjunct’ or ‘contingent,’ and just one professor in five actually tenured.”

What can we do about it?

The solution is to use our power in numbers, as full-time and part-time faculty working together, to advocate strategically and persuasively for our programs, students, working conditions, and salaries. Eradicating the pro-rata payscale at City College and paying part-time faculty less will not benefit full-time faculty or students. It will further encourage the erosion of full-time faculty working conditions and the assault on tenure – as we experienced with the full-timer layoffs in 2022 – that have undermined higher education throughout the country.

January Medical Benefits

In January, many part-timers don’t know what our Spring semester workload will be. So CCSF uses our Fall load to determine benefits eligibility. But we still have to pay the January premiums.

• If you have medical insurance through CCSF in Fall semester, eligibility continues through January 31, whether or not you have a Spring assignment.

• If you have a Spring assignment, or if you are in Kaiser Member Only and therefore have no premium to pay, you don’t have to do anything.

• If you do not have a Spring assignment, you won’t have a paycheck, so HR cannot deduct your premium. If you are eligible for benefits, you can arrange to pay the January premium. The deadline to pay is December 24th.

If you are working part-time and you have to make a payment, you should already have received a letter from HR with instructions. But we’ve heard that some faculty have not received their letters. If you have not received it, tell HR immediately by emailing benefits@ccsf.edu. Also copy mfinkels@aft2121.org so our union can see the scale of the problem.

More details about January medical benefits here.

Unemployment

Part-time faculty are eligible for unemployment benefits over winter break. Apply on or immediately after your last day of work. If you have a full-term assignment, your last day is officially 12/19, even if your specific schedule doesn’t match that.

Detailed instructions for EDD applications here.

AD-19 Endorsement Vote Results

A big thanks to everyone who joined their Committee on Political Education meeting on Tuesday and participated in voting this week. With voting closed, AFT 2121 would like to announce that members have voted to endorse Supervisor Catherine Stefani for AD-19.

Our next COPE meeting will be held from 1:30pm-3pm on December 12th. Be sure to keep an eye out for the official announcement and official agenda!

Vote on Your Tentative Agreement & Come to the AFT Holiday Party Tomorrow, Friday 12/8

Tomorrow, “ElectionBuddy” will send all eligible faculty members a ballot to ratify your tentative agreement. You will receive ballot notifications as a text and an email to your CCSF account. This agreement calls for a 14% raise over three years, with a 9% raise for this year (retroactive to July 1), and a full restoration of your salary cut in 2021-22. See this FAQ & the agreement itself here for more information.

Dear City College Community,

City College faculty and the District have reached a tentative agreement that addresses key issues at the college and brings greater stability to our community. This agreement (see Mission Local article here) is the result of community advocacy, faculty and staff organizing, and the leadership of our elected Board of Trustees. We thank all of you for making this possible and look forward to the work ahead.

For nine long months, our faculty bargaining team dealt with a Chancellor at City College who was unwilling to negotiate or be transparent about the college’s budget, even going so far as to provide false and misleading documents. On October 26, community partners and students joined City College faculty (AFT 2121) and staff (SEIU 1021) in a rally for a fair contract. We called on our elected Board of Trustees to step up and direct Chancellor Martin and his team to engage in honest and genuine negotiations. Thankfully, our Board listened.

We would in particular like to thank Board President Alan Wong and Trustees Aliya Chisti and Susan Solomon for joining our mediation sessions and finding an agreement that works for all. Trustee Solomon spent over fifteen hours in our final session, and our students will be the better for it.  

Prior to this agreement, full-time faculty at City College had been paid 20% less than those at other colleges in the Bay Area. This was causing serious staffing shortages in key departments such as Registered Nursing. Our students deserve the best, and that means paying faculty competitively. It also means providing City College students with the classes and support they need to complete their training and degrees.

City College is the largest source of workforce training and higher ed degrees in SF. In his short time at City College, Chancellor Martin has presided over a period of short-sighted cuts and labor unrest that have negatively impacted thousands of students. We look forward to working with our Board to put an end to the chaos and to finding a new Chancellor who is committed to ensuring City College fulfills its mission.

City College is turning over a new leaf, and we thank you–our big, broad, and diverse community–for making that possible. Together, we will fight to protect and revive the soul of our city. #HeartbeatofCCSF

Special Delegate Assembly–Recommendation on Tentative Agreement, Today, 3-5pm on Zoom

Precinct representatives and all other members are encouraged to attend a special Delegate Assembly Tuesday, December 5, from 3-5pm on Zoom. Precinct reps will vote on whether to recommend to membership the ratification of AFT 2121’s recent tentative agreement with the District.

Members of your bargaining team will discuss the tentative agreement before the vote. Voting itself will be online and run from Friday December 8 to Wednesday Dec 13. You can find more information at AFT 2121’s 2023 Tentative Agreement Toolkit, including an FAQ, here: https://www.aft2121.org

You can use the same link as for other DA meetings – follow this link from your computer or smartphone. Meeting ID: 810 1671 8065, Password: 783119. Full link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81016718065?pwd=UFk0SzdUY2FLdXdLL2RLZW1wdnhRZz09#success

California Faculty Association Strike at SF State

Today, December 5th, CFA at SF State will be going on strike from 730am-7pm. In a show of solidarity, we are calling on AFT 2121 members to join them on the picket line. Though all are welcome to join throughout the day some members will be gathering in the early morning at 7:30 at 19th ave and Holloway; right where the picket line will be organizing. Additionally, if CFA is having sign-ups for other time slots that you can find here.

Your Committee on Political Education (COPE) meets Tuesday 12/12

Next week AFT 2121 will be hosting a Q&A with Supervisor Catherine Stefani and California Assembly candidate David Lee. This meeting will be facilitated by AFT 2121 Political Director Erik Christianson.

All members are encouraged to attend your Committee on Public Education meeting on Tuesday 12/12 from 1:30-3pm on Zoom.

COPE Agenda is here.

The link is the same as for past COPE meetings – follow this link from your computer or smartphone. Meeting ID: 810 1671 8065, Password: 783119.