UC-AFT Electoral Slate
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Bob Samuels, President
As President of UC-AFT, I will continue to work to help defend the rights and professional status of all members in unit17 and 18. While it is true that the current contracts of both units have improved the foundations of our professional status, we still need to educate our co-workers and our general campuses about the important functions we perform in the UC system. In fact, the recent workload committee meetings on each campus have been very helpful in providing a venue for increasing the awareness about the vital contributions our members make to all aspects of the university system. I want to thank Alan Karras, Karen Sawislak, and Mike Rotkin for taking the lead on our workload meetings.
Another way I we have worked to improve the status of unit 17and unit 18 members is by pursuing an aggressive legal agenda. We have recently won major victories in both the Public Employment Relations Board and on local campuses through our improved grievance and arbitration processes. I want to commend Kevin Roddy on his leadership in handling the “Davis Seven” settlement case.
I also want to thank Miki Goral for her leadership in helping to protect the status of librarians. I plan to work with Miki and other unit 17 members in their efforts to reopen and negotiate important aspects of the librarian contract. Miki has also been instrumental in our effort to improve the financial stability of UC-AFT.
Finally, I would like to continue to professionalize
our union and work with our Executive Director to help
support and coordinate our staff. I am proud of the
recent contract we have negotiated with the staff, and
I am also confident that our recent success in
increasing dues has made our union stronger and more
effective.
Kevin Roddy, Vice-President, Legislation
As everyone knows, the political situation in Sacramento, where most UC funding derives, and where much legislation affecting the University arises, has become complicated and frustrating. The news, however, is not entirely bad: the Governor failed completely to dislodge a single targeted senate or assembly seat, and his record on the initiatives was extremely mixed. His popularity, moreover, has dropped from 65% to 55%, and he is extremely vulnerable on educational issues.
The Democratic legislature, moreover, has become emboldened, and we will be seeing various representatives take on the Governor and his allies in state government. The test of their success and ours will be the fate of a special election slated for the fall, where there may well be a number of initiatives designed to decapitate that state retirement system, centralize gubernatorial power, and harm K-12 teachers. This group is already vulnerable because of poor working conditions: within the first five years, 45% of all K-12 teachers quit, and salary seldom plays a role in that decision: rather the pressure of standardized testing, the difficulties coping with the diversity of our classrooms, and inadequate facilities all figure prominently.
That the Governor seems to have made an effort to honor his compact with UC President Dynes does not make this Governor a friend of education, higher education included: fees for our students continue to rise, and support for staff continues to lag.
As Vice President, Legislation, I will work with the political officers of the California Federation of Teachers to overcome so many of these obstacles and barriers. I have tried in the past to coordinate our efforts, and I will continue to do so. With a more aggressive campaign to enlist COPE checkoffs, we will be able to support candidates, legislation, and initiatives of our choice, in order to be effective when we need to be.
Alan Karras, Vice President for Grievances
I am very pleased to serve again as Vice President for Grievances. I will recommit to serving our members as best I can in the coming year. In the area of grievances, this means continuing our successful approaches in two areas: vigorous contract enforcement working with UCOP to resolve disputed areas of the contracts. Our union has worked incredibly hard on building solid, respectful working relationships with UCOP and on many campuses. These connections allow us to avoid filing grievances while resolving the issues to our members' satisfaction; I will continue with this approach.
In my job as VP, I have also been regularly involved in discussions about the nature of the contract itself; these discussions will hopefully result in some clear improvements in our upcoming round of reopener bargaining. All of this work has required a system of committed staff and stewards. I believe that we have made great progress over the last year in professionalizing the way that we approach this work and hope to continue to make great strides in that direction over the coming year. None of this would have been possible without the support of the rest of my board colleagues and Executive Director: Bob Samuels, Mike Rotkin, Kevin Roddy, Miki Goral, and Karen Sawislak. With them, I look forward to continuing this very important work.
Mike Rotkin, Vice President for Organization
I am running for re-election as Vice President for Organization because I am deeply committed to helping the lecturers and librarians in the UC system improve their salaries, benefits, professional recognition, and working conditions in general. I believe that a key to accomplishing these goals is the development of our organizational capacity. We need not only to increase our membership in the two units we formally represent and seek to represent additional units at UC. More importantly, we need to develop a culture of membership participation and leadership development within our organization.
If elected as Vice President for Organization of the UC-AFT, I will continue to commit my time and energy to achieving these goals. Working closely with our new Exectutive Director, our Field Representatives, Local Presidents, and other members of the UC-AFT, I will do my best to make all of our members feel that the UC-AFT is THEIR union -- that their concerns and views are taken seriously and that they can have a strong hand in shaping decisions about the union's priorities and direction.
Working closely with the other members of the Executive Board, the Council, and our Executive Director, I will work hard to see that our processes are as open as is possible, our decisions are as democratic as possible, and that the union is as effective as it can be in representing the interests of our members. I believe that I have demonstrated my commitment to these goals over my past two decades of activism within the organization and I intend to maintain my commitment to them over the next year.
Frankly, I would love to work myself out of this job. If we are as successful as we need to be in developing a participatory democratic union, we will develop the kind of leadership capacity the organization needs more broadly, particularly within newer members or long-time members who have not yet been deeply involved in union activities. I believe that making that happen in a real and tangible way is the most important function of the Vice President for Organization. I want to work closely with our Executive Director and Campus Field Reps to develop the kind of organizational plans and activities necessary to move this aspect of our work forward.
I hope that you will support my candidacy for this office and, more importantly if I am elected, work with me to carry out this important work for our union, its members, and the students and communities we are trying so hard to serve well and effectively.
Miki Goral, Secretary Treasurer
I am honored to be asked to run for re-election to the position of UC-AFT Secretary Treasurer. This office carries a heavy responsibility to protect the fiduciary interests of the organization. I have the experience and desire to continue to serve UC-AFT in this capacity, working with the other members of the Executive Board and the Executive Director to ensure that the union is financially sound as we move forward. I have been vigilant in overseeing the financial affairs of UC-AFT. I look forward to continuing to serve. |
