May, 1997

Thanks a Heap

WELCOME We extend a warm welcome to the following new members:

Janet Flores (FT, Counseling)

Bill Richmond (FT, Engineering and Technology)

Mark Turner (FT, Math).

Recently, CCFT received a check for $500 from a faculty member (who wishes to remain anonymous). He wrote in a note included with the check that he wished to thank the union for doing a good job. We hope this instructor accepts our deep thanks and appreciation for his generosity. It might interest him to know that a portion of the money is going to much-needed clerical help for the union president! (Have you been brave enough to enter my office lately?)

We'll all miss Mark Weber in the Fall as he takes a semester leave to build his house. But we welcome Kent Brudney, once again, to the Executive Board, this time in the role of interim Grievance Officer for Fall 1997. Call Kent at x3164 for contractual questions/violations. But give him a break; wait until August.

On Friday, May 10, at a dinner hosted by EOPS, 15 faculty were recognized for the excellent teaching and service they provided EOPS students. Six of those faculty were CCFT members. We'd like to recognize them here:

• Dennis Baeyen, Language Arts
• Diane Lichty, Business Education
• Margaret Ann Maricle, LS/DSPS
• Bob Pelfrey, Fine Arts
• Lynn Steiner, Language Arts
• Cheryl Ziehl, Language Arts

And Louie Rossa-Quade, DSPS--who received a special recognition for his concern for and support of the EOPS program.

Congratulations, Tony Rector-Cavagnaro: new CCFT Vice-President.

Our last bargaining sessions on May 15-16 went well. We made some progress with the district on matters of process as well as on the items concerning workload and evaluation that we reopened. The district has limited its reopeners to Articles V and VII also. At present, we have four summer negotiation sessions planned. We'll inform members of any progress on salary issues as soon as we are able.

A number of faculty have expressed an interest in several issues which the Executive Board will review as possible reopeners for next year or subsequent years. At the Council of Representatives meeting on May 7, three ad hoc committees were formed to discuss those issues. They are lab/lecture ratio adjustment (chair, Jeff Grover); pro-rata structure for part-time faculty (chair, Christine Marchant); and service area faculty workload (chair, Dana Gough). The committees will convene in the fall and do the preliminary, background, and consultative work necessary before the negotiating team and Executive Board can move forward with contract proposals. The committees will work closely with the Executive Board throughout the year. If you have an interest in workingploring this issue, please call me.

Some of you may have heard that the last Board of Trustees meeting had its share of excitement. Without going into the details, the process concerning the layoff of a permanent classified staff member was discussed; so too was the question of how certain library hours and tutorial services were going to be funded now that ASCC's income from student fees has been sharply reduced. Let it be clear: CCFT supports a budget process--but it must be a consistent process. Consistency is one thing that has been consistently (pun intended) lacking in how management and the past Board have chosen to fund certain items. CCFT applauds the current Board of Trustees in its willingness shown at the last meeting to question and redirect manage-ment's budget decisions.

Note: If you are a faculty member who participated in the "Committee on Committees" meeting, Thursday, May 9 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. (don't worry; if you did, you know what I'm talking about), you know by now that you're getting paid (2/3 the lab rate at your salary schedule level) for your attendance. Thank your union for negotiating compensation for "off duty" governance work! Most of us volunteer much too much time to our place of employment. If you are asked or pressured to work beyond your normal schedule and you feel you should be compensated, please contact us.

This brief report is to let CCFT members know about CCFT¹s financial status. For those of you that are not ³numbers²-type folks, I will give you a narrative report first. Then I will report on some of the actual, pertinent figures for this year and discuss our major income and expense categories.

Finally, for those of you who relish in pecuniary peculiarities and want to have fun frolicking in the numbers, contact me for a detailed budget summary report comparing our actual income and expenses versus our budgeted amounts so far into this fiscal year.

The CCFT Treasury is in very good shape. Our cash balance is such that we could weather any financial storm that threatens to blow us off course. Each month we usually gain a little more money than we pay out.

Our excellent financial status is due to the fiscal conservancy of the CCFT Executive Board. The Board agonizes over all expenses and does not spend our money lightly. Despite some administrators¹ claims to the contrary, the union leaders understand very well ³the big picture² and the meaning of ³fiscal responsibility,² and it shows in how they manage CCFT¹s income and expenses.

I do have one caveat, however. As you have heard me say before, we are a young local and have not had the time to build up a large legal defense fund. However, don¹t worry, if we had to, we could put CCFT¹s, CFT¹s, and AFT¹s legal defense funds to work and support our members¹ causes with very strong resources.

Now for some numbers. Our current cash balance (cash on hand as of May 9, 1997) is $24,363.49, more than double our cash balance the same time last year. So far into this fiscal year (about ten months), we have gained $11,812.30 more in income than expenses. I expect that trend to continue and for CCFT to end up on June 30, 1997 with an ending balance of about $26,500.00. I will recommend that the great majority of that be retained in our legal defense fund/reserve.

Nearly all of our income comes from members¹ dues. Also, we are waiting for about $1300 in legal defense fund reimbursements from CFT and AFT for various legal cases which CCFT has undertaken on members¹ behalf in the past 18 months. There is a good chance that we will not receive those reimbursements until the next fiscal year.

The bulk of our expenses is in dues to CFT and AFT (so far this year: $26,689.65). Retaining an attorney costs $1200 per year, but saves us an extra $1000 a year because of the cost of ³billable hours.² (John Grisham fans know what I am talking about.)

Other relatively large expenses this year have included paying for the copying of this newsletter, meeting minutes, bulletins, etc.; setting up a CCFT web site; hosting a reception for the new Board of Trustees members; and paying the annual insurance premium for the CCFT computer.

I look forward to CCFT finishing this year in fine financial shape. If you have any questions about our treasury, please do not hesitate to contact me. And do have an enjoyable summer.

Mark Tomes, Secretary-Treasurer

Part-Time Issues

Pro-rata Pay
On May 10, I attended a workshop organized by COFO (Council of Faculty Organizations) at Pasadena College. Several part-time issues were discussed, but the major emphasis was on pro-rata pay for part-time faculty.

Both FACCC and union organizations throughout the state agree in principle to support the push for pro-rata pay. Some colleges have already made meaningful strides towards this goal. For example, compared with Cuesta¹s part-timers who earn only 56% of their full-time colleagues¹ salary, part-time colleagues at Foothill De Anza college have been earning 70% pro-rata since 1977! Marin college pays its part-timers 80% pro-rata, and Santa Monica 65% pro-rata. So obviously the idea of equal pay for equal work is hardly a revolutionary one!

With this in mind, next semester I will be chairing an ad-hoc committee to study the issue of pro-rata pay throughout the state. Please call me if you would like to participate. I¹m convinced we can make important gains in the near future.

Negotiations
Since we¹re on the subject of salaries, I assume management will support the negotiating team¹s platform for reopeners. In attempting to make strides towards greater salary equity between full and part-time faculty, the Executive Board and the negotiating team agreed to propose an extra 5% raise for part-time faculty above the 10% proposal for all faculty members. I think we all recognize the need for this, but will management? We¹ll find out in the Fall semester. It would certainly be a great morale booster.

Echoes from Sacramento
You need to put pressure on your legislators to support the following bills regarding part-time issues:

AB30 (Cunneem-R) encourages community colleges to compensate part-time faculty who teach at least a 40% load, for holding one office hour a week.

AB 954 (Martinez-D) provides that part-time faculty who have taught each regular quarter or semester in the current and preceding three consecutive academic years, shall have a preferred right to future reappointment for part-time faculty positions. Part-time faculty may also challenge a decision by a community college district that chooses not to offer a reappointment. (The wording is theirs, not mine!)

Unemployment Benefits
Once again I remind those part-timers who were not offered a teaching load for the Summer session to apply for unemployment benefits between semesters. On the last day of class, sign up at the Employment office on Higuera street. You will be expected to look for a full-time job in your field during the period you are receiving the said benefits. Colleagues in the past fought long and hard to win this right. I urge you to take advantage of it.

Empty Seat
Beginning next semester, there will be one less part-time vote and one less part-time voice on the union Executive Board. As yet, no one has come forward to take my place. However, there is still time to change your mind. If you believe our voice needs to be heard and you¹re willing to participate, call Marilyn Rossa at 3187.

Christine Marchant

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