At a time when education seems to be taking blows from every which direction, one local union is quietly building public appreciation by displaying faculty artworks in its new Union Hall Gallery and opening it to the public.

The Los Rios College Federation of Teachers, Local 2279, recently moved its offices to a charming Victorian house on K Street in the old part of Sacramento not far from the State Capitol.

   Retired artist George Esquibel, a former member of the executive board who taught ceramics at Sacramento City College for 30 years, approached the union and asked if it would consider opening a gallery in the space. The union said yes and set about making the changes needed to hang artwork

in the main room, which provides a relaxed and comfortable venue for viewing.

Esquibel collects the artwork. He asks faculty members who are artists at the district’s four campuses if they want to exhibit their art at the Union Hall Gallery. Normally galleries require a commission to exhibit art, but at the Union Gallery, it’s free. If a piece of art is sold through the gallery, all proceeds go to the faculty artist.

Lanny Hertzberg, a retired anthropology instructor, sets up the exhibits and watches over them during Sacramento’s Second Saturday, when the Union Gallery and dozens more galleries throughout the city open their doors to the public.

Many passers-by are drawn inside by the classic period sign designed by graphic arts instructor and union member Robyn Waxman. In April more than 300 people visited the gallery, in part because the statewide CATESOL conference was being held in Sacramento. The May exhibition saw more than 200 visitors.

Local 2279 reports that “the faculty love it” and many have sold their pieces on display. To date, faculty members from Sacramento City College, Cosumnes River College, and American River College have exhibited art.

For all members of Local 2279, a new perk of union membership is having a private viewing after the city event is over, when the art remains on display in the Union Hall Gallery turned day-to-day working union office.

— By Jane Hundertmark, Editor

Citrus adjuncts squeeze out overdue pay boost… Part-time instructors at Citrus College in Glendora have been working without a contract since July 2006, but their dogged efforts at the negotiating table paid off this month. Negotiators for the Citrus College Adjunct

Faculty Federation, Local 6352, won adjuncts a well-deserved pay boost of 12.98 percent, retroactive to January.

Negotiators also convinced the district of the importance of paid office hours and fine-tuned the steps on the salary schedule. Starting in June, part-time instructors will get 30 minutes of paid office hours per week for an additional 1.55 percent on the salary scale. And, because negotiators were able to eliminate a redundant step on the salary schedule, adjuncts can progress more quickly to the top step.

Local 6352’s contract expires in December, so the union plans to sunshine new proposals in the fall and launch an internal organizing campaign to build upon this success.

Negotiating team members included union President Bob Orso, an art instructor; Treasurer Monica Lee, an instructor of microbiology; former President Dan Tosney, and CFT Field Representative Peter Nguyen.

Local unions honor K-12 educators … Dozens of teachers and classified employees won awards from their local unions at a CFT Convention breakfast organized by the CFT K–12/Early Childhood Council.

The council bestowed its “Raoul Teilhet Educate, Agitate, Organize” award upon Mike Weimer, a founder of the Santa Paula Federation of Teachers, Local 2071, and dedicated unionist since 1970.

In his time at Santa Paula Elementary, Weimer defended the rights of teachers through eight superintendents. He became a CFT vice president in 1993, was hired as the union’s K-12 lobbyist in 1999, and retired earlier this year.

“Events get you agitated,” he said, recalling a Santa Paula administrator who tried to dock the pay of teachers who had attended an early morning vigil for the United Farm Workers, but had still gotten to class on time.

The administrator was “agitated,” Weimer said, with a broad smile. His wrath helped educate the membership. The following year teachers organized and through a representational election, the AFT local became one of the first unions in the state to become a collective bargaining agent for teachers.

The other honorees, like Weimer, got a chance to speak to the large crowd. Several educators were honored with Dedicated Unionist Awards. Some of their remarks, below, are keepers.

“I know how to run a classroom with children, but it took a while to learn how to run a union meeting with adults.”

— Darcie Chan Blackburn, United Educators of San Francisco, Local 61

“My favorite button in my collection is one that says, ‘A woman’s place is in her union.’ My administrator always does a double take when he sees it.”

— Sharon Maxwell, Greater Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers, Local 2030

“Every time we sing with our kids, we are teaching them to organize.” — Nancy King,

Berkeley Federation of Teachers, Local 1078

“When we were read fairy tales in my family, they all began, ‘Once upon a time and a half.’” — Steve Harris, ABC Federation of Teachers, Local 2317

YouTube video a winner… An inspiring short video produced by Bill Hendricks, a professor of photography at Ventura College, and member of the

Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, Local 1828, won his union the Jim Herndon Award in the CFT Communications Awards. The video, only a minute-and-a-half long, featured faculty members delivering one-line statements about how their work makes students be creative, work hard, and become responsible citizens. With a close that slams shut like a trap door, it sends a powerful and effective message. Watch it at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=U7OGwnR4Dxg. And add your thoughts to the comment area.