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Present: Chip Chandler, John Kirk, Katharine Harer, George Goth, Rick Hough, Romy Thiele, Karen Olesen, Eric Brenner, Annie Nichols, John Searle, Teeka James, Dan Kaplan, Ernie Rodriguez, Suzanne Russell, Norman Prince, Victoria Clinton, Joaquin Rivera, Nina Floro, Kate Motoyama

Guests: Connie Beringer, R. Jolly (president of AFSCME)

The meeting began at 2:25 pm.

The minutes of Jan 22 2003 and Feb 5 2003 were accepted with corrections.

John Kirk and Katharine Harer discussed the retirement incentive process. At the request of the AFT, the Chancellor's original proposal had been pulled from consideration by the Board of Trustees as it had not been negotiated. A negotiations session was held on Feb 19. The AFT had collected a variety of proposals from the faculty and presented these to the Administration. The Administration accepted approximately half of these, the major changes being:

a) an eligible faculty member may elect to take phase in retirement for three years at 50% load for three years and the District will pay the full STRS contribution;

b) an eligible faculty member may elect to use the 25K incentive to purchase STRS service credit which would mean the incentive would not be subject to taxes;

c) the dateline for decision has been extended to April 7;

d) upon the advice of the county district attorney, an eligible faculty member may request only one year, rather than five, of unpaid leave;

e) there will be no minimum number of participants to activate the proposal.

There were some unresolved questions as to spousal medical benefits that need to be investigated.

Eric Brenner said we should develop a Q & A for our web site.

It was agreed that STRS should review the proposal to make sure it is OK with their rules.

The District will be arranging group workshops with STRS and it was thought that the District should also arrange for individual workshops.

The question of post retirement contracts was raised. An initial proposal at Canada that there would be none has been rescinded. This is guaranteed in the contract and, unless no classes are available, should be granted to those who apply for it.

R. Jolly, president of AFSCME, said that the incentive package offered that union is much the same. However they are being asked to approve it and a Managed Hiring program as a package. They are deeply concerned that the latter would bypass seniority and transfer guarantees.

The Executive Committee voted unanimously to accept the District's retirement package subject to review by STRS.

Joaquin Rivera and Katharine Harer gave the co-president's report. A fact sheet outlining how the proposed cutbacks would effect students was distributed and ways of making it widely available were discussed. There will be campus meetings on March 5 to discuss the cuts and the schools are sending buses to the March 17 Sacramento rally. It was thought that a district wide critical thinking project on the effect of the cuts would be appropriate. The local will contribute to the cost of the buses going to Sacramento, perhaps with some assistance from the CFT.

Joaquin Rivera and Katharine Harer said that it was critical to get more faculty involved in the March 17 demonstration, at least on the level of not scheduling exams on that date. It is hoped that the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees will, at least, endorse the event and perhaps even participate in it.

Katharine Harer asked that the campus chairs organize activities to produce signs to be carried at the Sacramento event.

Joaquin Rivera and Katharine Harer discussed the negotiations over part time parity which are, in essence, stalled. The District has raised, once again, the 1990 side letter about part time compensation for office hours. We consider this letter mute. An additional negotiation session is scheduled for March 10. A consultation with our lawyer indicates that we have a good chance of a ruling in our favor should we take this to litigation. There is some pressure to reach an agreement on this issue as, in the future, the state may only fund those districts with agreements in place. It was noted that if, for one reason or another, the equity money disappears, the pay scale of part timers will revert to the lower scale now paid to full timers.

John Kirk discussed grievances, the major one being the faculty member who was placed on paid administrative leave. This faculty member has now been dismissed for cause. John Kirk discussed specific aspects of the case and of how it was handled. For example, the VP for Human Resources was supposed to carry out an investigation and, while this was apparently done, the faculty member was not involved in it. Also the VP for HR was supposed to have filed a written report with the Chancellor within 90 days but did not. Our attorney indicates that, if we challenge this, we have a good chance of having the decision rescinded. We hope the District will agree to accept an arbitrator previously agreed to in an earlier phase of this situation. If they do not, the state will appoint an administrative law judge to review the case.

The Executive Committee voted unanimously to proceed with the grievance.

Kate Motoyama discussed the Faculty Hiring Task Force. They are continuing to discuss how to keep a diverse membership on the hiring committees and have developed tentative language about the possible participation of non-tenured faculty on hiring committees. They will be taking the proposal to the senates for endorsement. She asked that faculty members closely scrutinize the document when it is published as to assure that no aspect has been overlooked.

The discussion of the local's budget was delayed to the next meeting.

John Searle presented the co-presidents with a petition from science instructors asking for lecture lab equivalency. Joaquin Rivera said that, as per prior agreement, no new negotiations are possible at this time but that it can be raised at the next round. Teeka James said that there was some concern at CSM as a perceived lack of communication on the budget and the retirement incentives by the AFT.

The meeting adjourned at 4:35 pm.

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