Newsroom
Jeff Freitas reelected CFT President, Luukia Smith Secretary Treasurer
Union Election Results
Results of the CFT officer elections were announced on May 1 after mail ballots were tabulated. The biennial election was held by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a Virtual Convention. All newly elected leaders will take office on May 26, 2021.
President
Jeffery Freitas
Secretary Treasurer
Luukia Smith
Pass the PRO Act: Empower workers to organize and bargain
Call your senators now!
Union members have been standing up for dignity and a voice on the job. Please join the AFL-CIO to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Reach out to your U.S. senators and urge them to pass this crucial worker empowerment legislation. You can call your senators at 866-832-1560 or by using this link.
CFT introduces significant bills in the new legislative session
Legislative Update
The CFT is sponsoring or co-sponsoring numerous bills in the new legislative session. You can find them below with links to the bill language.
MOVING BILLS
Community college part-time faculty reemployment
Assembly Bill 375 (Medina, D, Riverside)
requires that negotiation on reemployment preference for
part-time, temporary faculty assignments be based on the minimum
standards not exceeding 80% to 85% of a full-time equivalent
load, and would prohibit the community college district from
restricting the terms of the negotiated agreement to less than
that range, unless explicitly agreed upon by an individual
part-time, temporary faculty member and the
district. Sponsor
Why California needs a New Deal for Higher Education
Value of national campaign brought home in CFT training
During the pandemic, issues in higher education — like underpaid adjuncts teaching the majority of classes, often without benefits; chronic underfunding; crushing student debt; and the focus narrowing to be only on job training rather than the public good — have come into greater relief.
Pandemic relief on the way: Kamala Harris, AFT leaders, Stanford physician
American Rescue Plan and COVID-19 vaccinations
AFT President Randi Weingarten addressed the CFT Convention, expressing thanks and gratitude for all the members have done—pivoting from the classroom to online, providing food delivery, and bringing hotspots to neighborhoods. Education workers did all this while taking care of their own children, living in homes with multiple generations, being at risk due to pre-existing conditions, and mourning people who had died from COVID, Weingarten said.
Khalil Gibran Muhammad on racial justice
“Good will is not a substitute for good work”
A history professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who teaches classes such as Race, Inequality, and American Democracy and the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, with his work featured in the New York Times’ 1619 Project, and Ava DuVernay’s documentary about mass incarceration, 13th, Khalil Gibran Muhammad s
Delegates pass wide range of resolutions — from their homes
Condemn anti-Asian violence, support wealth tax, mandating healthcare for part-time faculty
At this year’s CFT Convention, several resolutions provoked a lot of discussion, especially considering the attendees were virtually raising their hands to be acknowledged from their living rooms, rather than on the actual convention floor. Some of these included condemning anti-Asian violence, mandating healthcare for part-time faculty, reforming Social Security to support teacher retirement, supporting the PRO Act to increase union organizing, and maintaining a list of retirees to contact.
Two educators receive Women in Education Awards
Inspiring females lead the way in making workplaces better
Kati Bassler, the president of Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers and Linda Delp, UCLA Faculty Union, shared this year’s CFT’s Women in Education Award, given for promoting the rights of women and issues of gender equity in the workplace.
Cathy Campbell honored with Ben Rust Award
Berkeley leader speaks to importance of women in union leadership roles
Long-time Berkeley Federation of Teachers president and CFT Vice President Cathy Campbell, the winner of the CFT’s highest honor, the Ben Rust Award, opened by thanking classified employees and teachers for all they had done to keep students safe, get them food, and make sure they could learn during the pandemic.
Rob Bonta named Legislator of the Year
Addresses delegates on cusp of becoming state Attorney General
This year’s Legislator of the Year award went to Oakland Assemblymember Rob Bonta. In his first public address since Governor Newsom appointed him to fill Xavier Becerra’s position as California attorney general after Becerra became Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, Bonta spoke to the CFT Convention.
In the vanguard, fighting for transgender rights
Activist Ebony Harper steps up in the face of oppression
The director of California TRANScends, Ebony Ava Harper, addressed the CFT Convention on Friday morning, March 26, talking about working for climate and disability justice and race equity, as well as trans rights.
New U.S. Senator Alex Padilla addresses delegates
First Latino senator put voting rights first as Secretary of State
Alex Padilla, California’s Secretary of State until Governor Newsom appointed him to the U.S. Senate seat left open by Kamala Harris when she became vice president, addressed delegates on the first morning of the CFT Virtual Convention.