Newsroom
Back to School Tour 2022
CFT leaders have embarked on Back-to-School Tour. Follow their stops at local unions up and down the state on CFT’s social media channels.
Join our conversation! Hashtag #Back2School. Remember to tag us using @CFTunion.
State budget sets record for education, includes new funds for part-time faculty healthcare
Research Brief
Governor Newsom and the state Legislature reached agreement on a $235 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022-23, with Proposition 98 funding for K-14 education totaling $35.8 billion more than the previous year’s allocation.
Spending for TK-12 education totals $128.6 billion and provides per pupil funding of $22,893 (including monies from all sources) and $16,993 per pupil from Prop 98. The community college budget totals $13.4 billion (including $12.6 billion in Prop 98 funds) and, significantly, increases the ongoing funding for part-time faculty healthcare by $200 million per year.
Lorena Gonzalez sworn in to lead the California Labor Federation
This week at the convention of the California Labor Federation, history was made when Lorena Gonzalez was sworn in to lead the 2.1 million-member statewide umbrella organization of the AFL-CIO.
Gonzalez, formerly the secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council before serving nine years in the California Assembly, will become the first woman and person of color to lead the statewide federation.
Join a campaign kickoff meeting this fall — Faculty Healthcare Now!
Local mobilizing and bargaining — learn how to secure funding for part-time healthcare in your community college district
In phase one of the Part-Time Faculty Campaign, our collective efforts secured $200 million in ongoing funding for part-time faculty healthcare in the California state budget.
Now we are launching phase two — coordinated collective bargaining — as members begin to mobilize and bargain in their home districts to secure this funding locally.
FAQ: Part-time faculty healthcare, the state budget, and collective bargaining
Quick answers to common questions
Updated July 1, 2022
About half of the California community college districts offer healthcare benefits for part-time faculty; the quality of the benefits is wide ranging with some offering the same benefits package to full- and part-time faculty and some offering very modest stipends to help cover the cost of insurance.
State budget continues record funding for public education, secures funding for part-time faculty healthcare
Legislative Update
Funding for part-time community college faculty healthcare secured
Governor Newsom signed the final state budget on Friday, June 30 after the governor and state legislators reached agreement on the 2022-23 budget over the weekend. The deal includes record levels of funding for public education and the $200 million to support part-time faculty healthcare that CFT has been championing throughout this budget process.
Gun violence in America — something is gravely wrong here
Let’s imagine a world free of gun violence and schools that are open, free, and welcoming
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
I taught high school math in a picturesque Southern California location with a view of the Pacific Ocean. On nice days, we used to keep the doors and windows of our classrooms open. We had no fences around our school and there were open courtyards that welcomed gatherings of students and staff alike. Much of that has disappeared. Now doors and windows must remain shut on campus and chain link fences surround the beautiful campus in case someone shows up with a weapon of war and the intent to kill.
Faculty at Pasadena ArtCenter College of Design choose AFT/CFT as their union
Talents of design teachers shine during successful union campaign
The nearly 700 part-time and full-time faculty at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena now comprise CFT’s newest local union in the Federation’s recent surge of organizing victories among private sector universities.
The ArtCenter faculty voted to form a union with AFT/CFT with 60% of those participating in the mail election voting in favor of the union. The National Labor Relations Board counted union recognition ballots June 21 in Los Angeles.
CFT-sponsored bills pass first house of Legislature, move on to second
Legislative Update
The “house of origin” deadline marks a major hurdle for bills to pass out of their first house of the Legislature and move on to the second. The CFT was able to move its 18 sponsored and co-sponsored bills before the deadline with only a couple of exceptions.
- CFT-Sponsored Bills: The 18 union-sponsored and co-sponsored bills with brief descriptions, bill status, and links to the bill text.
- All Legislation CFT is Monitoring: Find CFT’s position on these 626 bills.
March for Our Lives – Join an event near you on Saturday, June 11!
Enough is enough! Our communities deserve common sense gun safety laws now
Last week, AFT announced support for a nationwide Enough Is Enough campaign in partnership with March for Our Lives, AFT affiliates, and other allies.
Educators, parents, and students will send the message that “enough is enough” and that our communities deserve common sense gun safety laws now. The union also will be partnering with Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor and activist David Hogg in the lead up to the nationwide March for Our Lives events on this Saturday, June 11.
Anatomy of a victory: Teachers stand up, insist upon being valued
How the ABC Federation’s work-to-rule campaign succeeded
Ruben Mancillas, chief negotiator for ABC Federation of Teachers, was pleased about getting a 5% raise for teachers in their latest contract, which he says is the single largest increase since the recession. But it’s not only the raise that pleased him.
Local 2317 was headed towards a strike for the first time in three decades, after uncharacteristically tough negotiations with a new school board in place. Instead of a strike, ABC did a work-to-rule campaign, asking teachers to only do what was specified in their contract.
Retirees gearing up for national midterm elections
Voices of experience hope to educate younger Americans, reverse Social Security penalties
Political season is in full swing and, with days to go until California’s June 7 primary, CFT retirees are already looking ahead to the November 8 General Election.
“I can’t tell you how many people have told me they are mad as hell and ‘ready to do something’ because of the leaked Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights,” said Mike Nye at-large representative on the CFT Council of Retired Members.