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Dear Colleagues,

Here is a brief update on contract negotiations, an overview of the governor’s budget proposals, plus some other pertinent news from your union:

Negotiations Crunch

The AFT negotiations team did not accept the District’s last offer on December 17 and, as a result, the two teams are working with a professional mediator on January 24 and February 11 to see if we can achieve a reasonable settlement. To summarize, the District offered a compensation package of COLA (2.41% for ’04-‘05) plus .6% (that is, a total of 3.01%) for the first year (2004-05) and COLA only for the second and third years. Any increases to our benefits cap (currently $567/month) would have to come out of this package rather than be negotiated as a separate item! (Let’s clarify what this means: to increase the cap to $925/month—which is the new Kaiser family rate for 2005—would cost about $600,000 which translates to a 1.5% compensation increase. Based on the District's proposal, then, we would only get 1.51% for a raise in order to increase the cap to $925/month.) The District also offered an additional 1.5% increase for full-time faculty at column 8 (MA + 60 units) on the salary schedule because that column (which includes almost half of all full-timers) is significantly lower on Bay 10 salary comparisons than other columns. In part-time issues, they offered to move to a parity definition of 87.5% if the union drops payment for office hours from our proposal.

The union’s proposal, in brief, is for a 3.5% increase in year one and COLA plus 2%--with a minimum of 4% total and no maximum--in years two and three. Our proposal for column 8 is a total increase over two years of 3%. We propose increasing the medical cap, on top of salary increases, to $925/month—the 2005 Kaiser family rate. Our definition of part-time parity is 87.5% with paid office hours. These are the most essential issues that are holding up the contract.

As you can see, we are pretty far apart, but the mediation session on Monday (1/24) was good and productive. As of Monday, the District wants to negotiate a compensation settlement for 2004-05 only. Our next mediation session will be an all-day session on February 11 and we hope that the mediation process will continue to bring our two sides closer together so that we can settle the contract and move on. We will keep you posted through email, the Advocate and forums on each campus when we have something tangible to report.

Governor Proposes Some Increases, Breaks Promises & Attacks Teachers

Community colleges were one of a few select programs slated for an overall funding increase in the Governor’s January 5th budget announcement. The January proposals are very preliminary and there will be many debates, negotiations and revisions before there is anything finalized next summer, but the initial numbers give a clear sense of Schwarzenegger’s agenda as the political process unfolds. He proposed a 7.4 percent ($373 million) increase for community colleges, distributed in the following areas:

• enrollment growth of 3 percent ($136.7 million)
• cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 3.93 percent ($195.5 million)
• statutory enrollment growth of 1.89 percent and the 3.93 percent COLA for basic skills, EOP&S, DSP&S and Matriculation.
• "set-aside" of $31.4 million (the amount of Partnership for Excellence funds vetoed in the 2004 Budget Act) pending review of the Board of Governors' recommendations this spring on the issue of accountability.
• $20 million from one-time funds for the community colleges to articulate vocational course-work with K-12 schools in order to expand "2 + 2" vocational curriculum opportunities.

Student fees remain at the current level.

For purposes of comparison, the California Community College Board of Governors proposed budget for 2005-06 called for a funding increase of $548.5 million in ongoing funds and $53.7 million in one-time funds over the 2004-05 level.

Schwarzenegger also made a number of radical proposals targeting teachers and public employees. One of these proposals, that, if passed, would immediately affect community college faculty, calls for the state to not pay its 2% of salaries to STRS, but rather that the districts should either pay it or have the faculty pay it through a negotiated agreement. This STRS change would cost community college districts an estimated total of $40 million. The Governor also proposed some other items that the CFT will vigorously oppose - changes in STRS and PERS to go to a defined contribution rather than a defined benefit plan for new employees (scrapping traditional pensions in favor of investment accounts with no guaranteed payout in retirement), merit pay schemes for K-12 (which could find their way up to community colleges over time), changes in Proposition 98 to not pay back prior year underpayments, a change in the 75/25 rules to exclude vocational technical faculty, and other anti-government and anti-public employee ideas.

The State Chancellor’s Office budget was cut by $137,000. The Part-time Faculty Health Insurance ($1.747 million), Part-time Faculty Compensation ($1 million), and the Part-time Faculty Office Hours ($50.828 million) funds remain unchanged from 2004-05. (The CFT had proposed, and the Board of Governors included in their proposal for 2005-06, increases in these funds to meet the actual need in 2003-04.)

The Governor also proposed no additional funding directed at equalization, noncredit rate enhancement, professional development, or health service fees backfill. The $80 million equalization from last year went into the base.

Schwarzenegger went back on his agreement of last year by not recognizing the additional $1.1 billion increase in Proposition 98 guarantee since the budget was approved. By not recognizing the increase, the State saves $1.1 billion this year and $1.2 billion next year, for a two year savings of $2.3 billion.

The Community College share of Proposition 98 seems to be at about 10.35% - up a little from last year.

The CFT, along with other teacher and public employee unions, will be gearing up for a very critical political battle against Schwarzenegger’s anti-teacher, anti-union proposals. We will need to build a huge campaign to fight the millions and millions of dollars that Schwarzenegger and his cronies will raise to battle public employees and education forces.

For more information on community colleges and the state budget, go to our Local’s website: http://AFT1493.org. Click on: “C. C. Budget Info”. You should also join the FACCC (Faculty Association of California Community Colleges) online letter-writing campaign to oppose the elimination of the STRS defined benefit program and the cuts to Proposition 98 funds at: http://www.faccc.org/letters2/CampaignsPage.htm.

CFT Human Rights Conference: February 11-12

CFT's first Human Rights Conference on February11-12 is going to be a thought-provoking get-together.

Dolores Huerta will be keynote speaker on Friday night and will address the radical attack on human rights that the right has launched. Workshops will include:

• Academic freedom in a time of repression
• Gay bashing and other forms of bullying and violence
• Teaching about war and militarism
• Keeping sex education in the schools
• The ongoing struggle over bilingual education
• Attaining diversity in higher education
• Equity in education
• The US internment of Japanese-Peruvians

The registration fee is $40, which will include all meals. AFT will pay this for any faculty member interested in attending. Registration forms are available at http://CFT.org.

The Conference is in Manhattan Beach. If you are interested in attending, please call the AFT office at x6491.

CFT Scholarship deadline for high school seniors: January 31st

CFT’s Raoul Teilhet Scholarships are available to graduating high school seniors who are children or dependents of CFT members in good standing, or children of deceased CFT members. Scholarships of $3000 are awarded to students entering a four-year university; $1000 scholarships are awarded to students entering a two-year school. Go to http://CFT.org to download an application. Questions? Phone 818-843-8226.

We hope you have a great semester!

Katharine Harer and Joaquin Rivera, AFT 1493 Co-Presidents

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