Who is the CFT? Print E-mail

Who are the CFT's officers?

  • Joshua Pechthalt was elected CFT president in 2011.  Before his election he served as a CFT vice-president and AFT president of United Teachers Los Angeles. He taught high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 21 years.  Pechthalt also serves as a vice-president of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.
  • Lacy Barnes, a psychology instructor at Reedley College in the State Center Community College District, is the CFT's senior vice-president.  Barnes is also the president of the State Center Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1533.  She holds a PhD in psychology and is a former Olympic athlete, competing for the United States in the discus in 1996.
  • Jeff Freitas was elected CFT secretary-treasurer in 2011.  Previously he advocated on behalf of CFT members as a Legislative Representative in Sacramento, following a stint as Field Representative.  Freitas served as president of the Carpinteria Association of United School Employees, Local 2216.  He taught high school mathematics.
  • Velma Butler is president of the CFT Council of Classified Employees, the division of support staff and paraprofessionals. Butler leads the AFT College Staff Guild, Local 1521A, representing clerical technical employees in the Los Angeles Community College District and worked as an athletic secretary for 17 years at Southwest College.
  • Gary Ravani, a middle school teacher for 31 years in Petaluma, heads the Early Childhood/K-12 Council.  Ravani served as president of the Petaluma Federation of Teachers for 19 years, has been a vice-president of CFT for two decades and is chair of the Educational Issues Committee.
  • Bob Samuels, a lecturer in the Writing Program at UCLA, leads the CFT's University Council, which represents the librarian and lecturer bargaining units in the University of California system.
  • Carl Friedlander is the president of the CFT Community College Council. He is a long-time faculty member in the Los Angeles Community College District, and president of the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, AFT Local 1521.

WHO WE ARE
pacohaltWe are education employees working at every level of California education, from Head Start to the University of California. We are mostly in public schools, but you can find us in dozens of private schools and universities, too. We find common ground in our commitment to education and by participating together in the statewide California Federation of Teachers. The CFT is your professional union.

We come together to act-on behalf of education workplace rights, academic freedom, legislative solutions to educational policy issues, and full access to quality public education for our students. We encourage every member to be an active member. The union should never be understood as somehow other than or outside of ourselves. Your activism is the key to our power as professionals.

AFFILIATIONS
The CFT is the statewide organization of local unions of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Every AFT local in California is affiliated with the national AFT, the statewide CFT and with the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Portions of our dues dollars (the amounts determined democratically through your vote in local, statewide and national meetings) underwrites the activities of our affiliated groups.

While these affiliations may at first seem distant from your campus or worksite, each represents a level of support for your own activities at work and in defense of your rights. Our locals in California can call upon affiliates for assistance in political or legislative action, for research during negotiations, to add their members' voices to ours in demonstrations, and for ongoing training in the skills and knowledge necessary to run a strong, active, democratic union-all of which ultimately allows us to run our work lives in a more professional manner.