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State of the Union
CFT Virtual Convention 2021
By CFT President Jeffery Freitas
Good morning, CFT. I’m thrilled to be here with all of you—my fellow CFT leaders, all my union siblings, CFT and local union staff, and invited guests.
Governor extends COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
Summary of changes in Senate Bill 95
On March 19, Governor Newsom extended COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave to provide California employees with two weeks of paid sick leave when they cannot work for reasons related to COVID-19. To qualify, you must work for an employer with 25 or more employees. This bill applies to both public and private sector workers. SB 95 takes effect on March 29, 2021, and will be applied retroactively to January 1, 2021. It expires on September 30, 2021.
What does Supplemental Paid Sick Leave provide?
COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave provides two weeks of fully paid leave, up to $511 per day. These are in addition to California Paid Sick Days and to any paid sick leave taken by a worker in 2020.
However, employers are not required to provide this in addition to paid sick leave under federal or local laws that already meet these requirements. So, if a locality guarantees workers two weeks of such leave, as does Los Angeles County, for example, then that worker is only guaranteed two weeks of leave.
Additionally, if an employer guarantees workers two weeks of such leave then that worker is only guaranteed two weeks of leave. Employers who are already giving this leave—and workers who already have it—do not get an extra two weeks.
How can you use this paid sick leave?
SB 95 provides paid leave if you cannot work or telework because:
- You are subject to a quarantine or isolation order due to COVID-19.
- You were advised by a healthcare provider to quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
- You are attending an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
- You are recovering from symptoms of a COVID-19 vaccine.
- You are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
- You are caring for a family member who has COVID-19, or who has been advised to self-quarantine.
- You are caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19 on the premises.
When can you take this paid sick leave?
Although it takes effect on March 29, 2021, it applies retroactively to January 1, 2021. If you already took leave in 2021 for COVID-19, you can ask your employer to pay you for the time you were out of work, up to 2 weeks. Your employer should pay you in your next pay period. COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave will expire on September 30, 2021.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michael Young Legislative Representative
Telephone (916) 696-0563
CFT joins campaign to forge a New Deal for Higher Education
With the new Biden administration and Congress come new opportunities to ensure significant, sustainable public investment in higher education.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the long-standing crisis in public higher education. Declining state support, the erosion of tenure and shared governance, the increased use of contingent appointments, and the loss of the faculty voice on campus are threatening the core mission of higher education in our society. Now is the time to stand up for a just, inclusive system of higher education — one that can help transform our society.
We need a New Deal for Higher Education.
California education unions release school reopening plan
CLASSES — A Pathway to Bringing Students Back to Schools
California teachers and classified employees want nothing more than to be back in our physical classrooms and school sites and know first-hand there is no equal substitute to regular, in-person learning.
California’s schools are the heart of their communities. For many of our most vulnerable and underserved populations, they are lifelines. The educational, social and emotional needs of California’s students, particularly those who often lack the technological and additional education support to sustain distance learning, are of paramount concern.
The hope that 2021 brings
Looking back on a year like no other, but with recovery in sight
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
As I reflect upon the year that is reaching its end, the shock of all we have endured these past many months hits me anew. When we started this year, I felt hopeful with many opportunities for success and change.
Paul da Silva became the candidate he wanted to see
First teacher elected to College of Marin Board of Trustees
For years, Paul da Silva, a biology teacher at the College of Marin and a member of United Professors of Marin, Local 1610, wondered about the lack of teachers on the college’s Board of Trustees and tried to talk retiring professors into running. No one took him up on it.
So when he decided in the summer of 2019 that he would retire, he concluded, to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, he’d have to be the candidate he wished to see in the world.
A First Lady who is a community college teacher
President-elect supports two years of free community college
Dr. Jill Biden, a community college teacher, union member, and soon to be First Lady, spoke virtually to members of the AFT and the National Education Association, thanking them for all the phone banking, text messaging, voter registration drives and poll work they did to get her husband, Joe Biden, elected. AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle introduced her.
CFT website, UTLA strike series capture first place honors
Union wins nine first place awards for communications
The CFT has won nine First Place awards in the International Labor Media Communications contest for 2019, in a competition delayed by a few months because of the pandemic.
2019 was a busy year for the CFT and for union communications. In the first three months alone, the union experienced the UTLA strike, the launch of the new CFT website, and CFT’s 100th Anniversary Convention.
What I did to help win in Election 2020
Five retirees recount their extraordinary efforts
CFT retirees have broad-ranging interests and community relationships — and a lot of collective power. That is reflected in these five first-person accounts from very connected and active retirees.
With COVID on campus and normal a long way off, strategic action saves classified jobs
Unions save graveyard custodial shift, defeat most of devastating layoff proposal
El Camino College has been slowly resuming activity. Nursing, auto repair, construction and other “essential classes” returned to the Torrance campus in late September, along with scores of custodians, groundkeepers, computer techs and facilities staff.
Returning to normal is another matter. Administrators are trying to eliminate the night shift, even though “graveyard” is typically the busiest time for custodians. Meanwhile, four COVID cases on campus have underlined the pandemic’s ongoing threat, as well as the importance of properly trained and equipped cleaning crews.
Legislative Analyst forecasts state revenue windfall
Preliminary state budget outlook for 2021-22
Each November, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) is tasked with providing the state Legislature with forecasting of the state’s revenue and budget constraints. Those numbers have just been released to provide a starting point for what to expect in budget negotiations for the California 2021-22 state budget.
A snapshot of Election 2020
The so-sweet national victory, mixed state results, and locals wins
On November 3, voters went to the polls to turn things around in our country and in our state. Or rather, many went to the polls, but many more had already cast mail ballots in the days and weeks leading up to the election, a sign of the times during a year of “stay at home” orders.
Peralta reaches 100 percent pay parity; locals win distance education support
From course conversion stipends to health benefits extensions
In spite of the pandemic, a number of local unions won big gains for adjuncts, from parity pay to distance education, to the preservation of healthcare for adjuncts with reduced loads. These wins are especially significant at this time in which revenues are falling and concerns over future budgets made many administrators skittish to bargain.
