May 24, 1996

Thank You

The CCFT Executive Board would like to thank Christine Marchant for her two years of service on the Board as the Part-Time Faculty Committee Chair. She has worked very hard to keep the issues of part-time faculty in the forefront of faculty minds--not always an easy task. Even though she will be stepping down as chair, she will continue to remain involved as one of Language Arts' Council Reps.

We would also like to thank Dick Hitchman for taking on the position of acting Vice-President and membership chair during Kent Brudney's spring sabbatical. Dick is also stepping off CCFT's negotiating team after two years of service. Hitch has been a very valuable member of the team, and we will miss him greatly (who will tell us those stories during lengthy caucuses?). Mark Weber will remain on the team in the fall, and Kent Brudney will resume his place on the team this summer (Hey, Kent, wipe that smile off your face. Your sabbatical is over.)

The Staff Development Committee recently approved new budget guidelines. The following are the most notable:

• All managers are now excluded from staff development funding. The 55% (faculty)/ 45% (classified and confidential) split remains.
• Staff Development will no longer fund the District Required Day breakfast or food for division/departmental retreats or activities. The committee has requested that the district commit funds to staff development to augment the state's allocation. If it does, at that time the committee will reconsider food requests.
• Per-person funding for eligible group activities will be determined on an individual basis.
• No more than 60% of funds will be allocated for the fall semester. A March 31 deadline has been established for spring applications, after which time all funds will be opened on a first-come, first-considered basis.
• Additionally, the faculty Flex Committee supports the use of flex time between the hours of 8-4, providing there is no interference with class time, office hours, or committee assignments. At the beginning of next semester, the committee will complete the appropriate form for implementation of this change.
• Finally, an appeals process is being developed for use when a faculty member and his/her dean/director differ on whether or not an activity is considered to be appropriate for flex.

Thanks go out to Susan Marsala and the committee for their successful work.

Health Insurance The SoCal Part-timer Committee has been exploring options for providing health insurance to part-time faculty. One such option is to have the CFT send out a request for proposals to health insurance companies for a health insurance program. It would seem that a statewide program would have the advantage of economy of scale. But in any case, such a program would address a major problem: most part-timers do not have any benefits whatsoever, including health insurance. The CFT is in a position to do something about this. Perhaps the CFT and STRS could work jointly on this problem.

Part-time Hiring More than 70% of the new hires at the San Francisco CC have been part-timers from that district since new language was included in the last contract. The contract offers 'upgrades for part-time faculty seeking full-time positions, and job security through the use of seniority lists.' SFCC reps hasten to add that 'SFCC employs a diverse faculty--a condition that has not changed since the inclusion of the upgrade provision.' In other words, the new contract does not affect the hiring of minority candidates.

Unemployment Benefits Again a reminder. If you applied to teach summer school and were turned down, you are eligible for unemployment benefits over the summer. Go to the unemployment office on the last day of school and sign on as many others have.

Part-time Employment 'We are concerned as a union with the protection of dignity of work in general and of the faculty professions in particular. Substandard working conditions and the exploitation of any member of our profession imperils the entire academic community.' This statement summarizes the beliefs of the American Federation of Teachers in its 1996 statement of purpose. I'm happy our organization is so concerned with our working conditions, as well it should be.

Fortunately, I believe that the great majority of our full-time faculty, enlightened educators that they are, also agree that part-time faculty should and will be equitably remunerated for their services. Those faculty members who for years have been teaching their students about the struggles for justice and equality throughout history, realize the emptiness of their words if those same principles are not applied to today's working population. Those faculty teaching their students the principles of critical thinking understand that 'you can only fool some of the people some of the time.'

With this in mind, this year all of the faculty organizations have been working together to discuss part-time issues and concerns. My wish for 1997, then, is for these groups to move beyond the discussion stage and towards some concrete actions.

Negotiations The negotiation team, concerned about the situation of part-time faculty, is proposing an additional 2.5% raise above and beyond other raises. This is as it should be. The administration should realize the importance of this raise for the morale of the part-time faculty. The team has worked extremely hard for all of us. They have all my support as I hope they do yours.

Management isn't budging on salary, and it looks as if there will be a long, hard fight over the summer on the salary settlement for the 1994-95 and the 1995-96 academic years.

Here's where we are now. On May 13, management increased its initial offer by proposing to put the 0.58% from retiree savings on the salary schedule (something which we had proposed). Initially, management had proposed that the 0.58% be off-schedule.

This was no big move on management's part; that's for sure. Nevertheless, in the interest of expediting a salary settlement, on May 14, CCFT offered in response to revise downward its request for 1994-95: instead of 1.81% on-schedule, we would accept 1.0% on-schedule and 0.81% off-schedule. (See CCFT's written proposal in Appendix A)

Note: management's new salary schedule will net managers, in the aggregate, close to 11% annually over the next six years, excluding any future COLA's. Aside from the offer of 3.65% (COLA plus retiree savings) beginning in 1995-96, management's proposal to CCFT would net faculty anywhere from 0% to 5% annually (in salary and three longevity steps, if applicable) in the same time period, excluding any future COLA's. You may notice that managers haven't been wearing their blue equity buttons lately.

Do keep in mind that beginning in 1996-97, management's offer of 5% longevity steps only begins to address the neglect of those 29 faculty who have been stuck at the top salary step for up to and beyond 20 years. Also keep in mind that the rest of the faculty, both part-time and full-time, will be receiving far less than a 5% annual increase. Some full-time faculty, for example, who will be between 13-16 years of service, would receive no annual step increase for three years. On May 20, management responded with a counter offer that barely qualifies as such. The district's previous offer remains unchanged except for what the district calls 'Future Considerations' for the 1995-96 year. Management has offered a marginal increase in the percentage of new money (if there is any) which could be applied to salary.

The negotiating team was not impressed. To add insult to insult, management also proposed forming a salary committee to 'address inequities,' among other things. Somehow, this 'trust us' approach sounds far too familiar. In the words of one team member, 'been there, done that.' For one thing, management created the inequity with its own salary adjustments; and for another, in the past we trusted management to implement the formula; it didn't, and we unionized. Management must take action now to address salary inequities for 1994-96. Promises to consider action in the future are unacceptable to CCFT. Every year we continue to fall farther and farther behind in statewide comparisons. (See management's proposal in Appendix B)

The district's story is the same: it wants to pay full-time faculty more but doesn't have the money.

CCFT's budget consultant's analysis of the district budget indicates money is available. Also, at the Planning and Budget Committee meeting on May 21, it was reported that the District's ending balance for 1995-96 is over $2,000,000 and expected to increase. What's missing is management's willingness to spend it on salary improvement. And that's what CCFT will be working to change this summer.

Mark Weber   Marilyn Rossa

For those part-timers currently working less than a 50% load, STRS has developed a retirement plan that you can participate in. Currently, any part-timer not a member of some retirement plan, must participate in Social Security. The current contribution rate for Social Security is 6.2% for the employer and employee. With the STRS Cash Balance (CB) Plan, the minimum amount that is contributed is 8% (employer + employee), with the employer contributing a minimum of 4%. That amount can be negotiated to be higher. For example, the district can contribute 6% and the employee 2% as long as the sum is 8%.

Another advantage of the CB plan is the withdrawal privileges within the plan. Upon retirement or termination, you can withdraw a lump sum totaling both your contributions, the district's contributions, and the interest. Those that are vested in STRS (anyone over 50% load) can only withdraw their own contributions and interest. Those in Social Security can not withdraw their contributions in a lump sum. And unlike Social Security, STRS guarantees that all contributions will be paid in full, plus interest.

Of course, faculty do not have to take out your contributions in a lump sum. There are other options available for those who have accumulated at least $3500 in their account, including limited disability and death benefits. If you would like more information on the STRS Cash Balance Plan, feel free to contact me at x3928. Or call Jennifer Morrill, the Director of the Office of Government Affairs at STRS, at (916) 229-3714.

John Fetcho

Marilyn Rossa, John Fetcho, and Mark Tomes attended the CFT Annual Convention from April 12 to 14 in San Diego. This convention includes resolution writing and debate sessions, workshops relevant to schools and union activities, exhibitors, and awards.

All of the CCFT delegates participated in the General Sessions (which lasted until about 10:30 p.m. each evening), in which many and various resolutions were adopted by the delegates.

Fetcho also attended an STRS workshop explaining STRS's new Cash Balance Plan. This retirement plan is for non-tenure track (part-time) faculty who teach less than 50%. It allows employee and district contributions (with certain minimums and other restrictions) in lieu of Social Security deductions. Fetcho was excited about the plan's prospects for part-time faculty members, and he encourages them to contact him for more information.

Tomes found the Friday evening Community College Council brainstorming/ discussion session helpful. He also attended an AFT 'Technology in Higher Education' workshop that focused on the push for new technology on campuses and how faculty can become involved early in those crucial discussions and decisions. He has distributed some materials from the workshop to other faculty members.

Rossa attended all sessions and a workshop on alternative academic calendars. She found the discussion on trimester calendars interesting and useful. She also passed along the workshop information to a very interested faculty member.

Mark Tomes

Editor: Marilyn Rossa

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