You are the union…
Locals 1521, 1521A, 1021
rosemary lee
UTLA members on the steps of the state Capitol — of Wisconsin.
LOCAL 6319
Job Corps workers persevere… After more than a year of negotiations, the workers at Treasure Island Job Corps Center won their first contract — again. Job Corps is a federal program that provides job training and placement for at-risk youth. CFT organized the 160 workers at the San Francisco-based center in 2005, but in 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded operation of the center to a new contractor. While the new operator had to recognize the union, it was not bound by the union’s contract. Workers were forced to start bargaining anew. Private sector labor law is so weak that UC-AFT
Two negotiations starting… Maria Elena Cortez has hit the ground running with two series of negotiations underway with the University of California. Cortez, formerly field representative for 2 ½ years for the UCLA local, started January 1 as executive director of the University Council-AFT, the division of CFT that represents librarians and non-Senate faculty (also called lecturers) at 10 campuses in the UC system.
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C a l i f o r n i a t e a c h e r f e b r u a ry / m a r c h 2 0 11
L.A. flies support to Madison…Ten CFT members joined the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor in its efforts to show support for Wisconsin’s union workers. Local unions donated funds to charter the plane that on February 23 carried 160 members, representing 40 unions, on an overnight trip to Madison. Many slept in the state Capitol. The protest was so well organized that each L.A. union member was given a task upon arrival. According to CFT Vice President Betty Forrester, unions had set up logistical support —food, coffee, and picketing — outside the Capitol. Inside, student protesters regulated the flow of demonstrators, drums and music, microphones, lost and found, drugstore needs, the sleeping-over process, and the steady donations of food and drink. “We continously heard, ‘Sanitize your hands before you go to the food tables,’” Forrester reported. Mercedes Gaitain, a classified employee in the L.A. colleges, took on and relished the job of dispensing sanitary hand wipes to each person taking a piece of pizza. Those who made the trek… from United Teachers Los Angeles: Betty Forrester, John Akeson, Megan Boyd, Lisa Karahalios, Rosemary Lee, and Marc Rich. From the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild: Joanne Waddell, Alice Taylor. From the AFT College Staff Guild: Joaquin and Mercedes Gaitan.
increasing membership and participation to become even stronger for negotiations next year. “With more people behind us,” says Emily Rapaport, career transition specialist and local president, “we can win even more.”
employers often find ways to delay reaching agreement for years or to avoid agreement altogether. But in December, the Treasure Island Job Corps Workers’ Union won its long-awaited contract. It includes essential job protections of just cause discipline and binding arbitration, as well as a retroactive merit increase and provisions that will help strengthen the union in the future, including a trigger for union shop. Workers defeated proposals to take away their right to bargain changes in wages, benefits, working conditions, and their ability to organize actions around workplace issues. Now Local 6319 is focused on “We’re trying to be a part of deciding how the money is spent,” said Cortez. “We are committed to getting the budget to be transparent, and for Maria Elena Cortez all employees at UC to participate in how decisions are made.” UC-AFT represents about 4,000 members systemwide — a number that fluctuates with academic appointments campus by campus.
LOCAL 3267
bob riha, jr
Local Wire
Reporting Local Action Around the State
Getting kindergarten ready… Following last year’s passage of the Kindergarten Readiness Act, SB 1381, members of Jefferson Elementary Federation of Teachers started planning for preschool expansion in their district. Currently there are only four state preschool classrooms to serve 104,000 residents in Daly City. Elaine Francisco, a member of the CFT Early Childhood Education Committee, explained the expansion opportunity created in SB 1381 to the school board. Children who are not five years old by the new state cutoff date will be eligible for “transitional kindergarten” to help them prepare and succeed in kindergarten and beyond. California currently requires kindergarteners to be five by December 2 of the school year, one of the nation’s latest cutoff dates. SB 1381 moves the cutoff to September 1, phasing in the change one month at a time over three years, beginning fall 2012.
Rank & Files Jim Mahler, president of the AFT Guild, Local 1931, representing educators in the San Diego and GrossmontCuyamaca Community College Districts, and CFT vice president, will be honored as Labor Leader of the Year by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council on March 19. Mahler has led efforts to organize faculty and classified employees into the union, and built a highly successful political action program.
Marty Hittelman, CFT president, and Gregg Solkovits, secondary vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles, Local 1021, were named to the Transition Advisory Team for State Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson. The bipartisan team will provide strategic advice during Torlakson’s first few months in office.
Jane Stockly, an adjunct instructor who teaches parent education in the noncredit division at Glendale College, and a member of the Glendale College Guild, Local 2276, has just published Better Baby Sleep: A Handbook for Parents. The book offers information on the dynamics of infant sleep along with practical advice on how to encourage babies to learn to sleep through the night.
Jim Miller, an instructor at San Diego City, and vice president of political action for the AFT Guild, Local 1931, is a finalist in AFT’s annual contest to honor “everyday heroes.” Miller was one of six people who marched 48 days from Bakersfield to Sacramento in last year’s CFT-sponsored March for California’s Future. Cast your vote for Jim at aft.org.
Elaine Merriweather, an early childhood teacher, treasurer of United Educators of San Francisco, Local 61, and CFT vice president, was elected to the school board in the East Bay city of Richmond where she has been a long-time parent advocate. She ran on a platform of closing the achievement gap, improving school safety, and increasing transparency. Have you or your colleagues made news lately? Email the pertinent facts to the editor at jhundertmark@cft.org.