Topic: Standing Together
Antelope valley local awards scholarships in CFT field rep’s name
The Antelope Valley Federation awarded six scholarships at a May 18 event sponsored by the college foundation.
High school seniors Star Collins and Amanda Martinez each received $500 from the Karen Curtis Scholarship, which the AFT Local 4683 created to honor one of the union’s driving forces, CFT Field Representative Karen Curtis.
Lavalais named San Francisco paraeducator of the year
The mayor of San Francisco recently recognized 10 public school educators for their dedication and professionalism. Honorees were selected based on their ability to promote innovative learning, accountability, and equity and access in the classroom and school site.
The 2018 awards included the mayor’s first-ever Paraeducator of the Year. Mary Lavalais attended City College and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and a graduate degree in marriage, family, and child counseling at San Francisco State University.
Workplace organizing: Facing new threat, members recommit to their unions
For years, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court threatened to clip unions’ wings if the right case came before the bench.
Classified AFT locals across California have been preparing for the decision in Janus v. AFSCMEby asking agency fee payers to become full members, and recruiting at new employee orientations. The membership drives have meant an influx of new enthusiasm and a renewed sense of union pride.
3,000 reasons to appreciate her union
Monica Marlatt, a career development specialist for Santa Cruz city schools, has good cause to appreciate her membership in AFT Local 6084, the Santa Cruz Council of Classified Employees.
Marlatt’s daughter, Madeline, is studying nursing at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Books and nursing fees alone totaled $900 last semester, but help is on the way. This summer the CFT awarded Madeline, and eight more continuing college students, a Raoul Teilhet Scholarship for $3,000.
San Francisco City College faculty calls one-day strike
April 27 action protests college administration stonewalling
Rain, wind, and a four-hour round trip from her home could not keep English teacher Jessica Nelson away from City College of San Francisco to join a one-day strike on April 27, the first strike in the school’s history.
“I wanted to support my fellow faculty,” she said. “There’s a lack of respect for faculty here. That’s what led to this strike and all the time, energy and effort the union has put into it.”
Victory! Courts reject conservative anti-union lawsuits
Attacks on educator rights and union fair share halted…for now
On April 14, the California Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the lower court’s decision in the Vergara v. California case. The suit sought to dismantle seniority and due process rights for teachers in the name of students’ equal access to education. The appellate court wisely ruled that there is no constitutional link between tenure and student performance.
Classified Conference highlights: Proud to be classified, three staff named Members of the Year
At the annual conference held October 9-11 in San Jose, there was a smorgasbord of learning opportunities for attendees. Classified staff and paraprofessionals took advantage of the offerings, which were both informational and social.
Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, representing the East Bay’s 15th Assembly District described his hardscrabble upbringing and his path to becoming a state legislator. He also told how being a member of the West Contra Costa School Board helped him understand the essential work of classified employees.
Building a classified community
By Paula A. Phillips, President, Council of Classified Employees
What could a groundskeeper or a guard have in common with a bus driver or a computer technician? More than many people think.
As classified employees, we work with faculty to make schools and colleges the glue that holds our communities together. We helped lead the fight for Proposition 30 and now, two year later, new funding is arriving in districts across California.
Classified Conference: Support staff wear many hats…proudly
At the annual conference, the Council of Classified Employees celebrated the diverse work of support staff in a dazzling panoply showing the many hats they wear.
CCE Southern Vice President Carl Williams called out classified job titles one after another. Secretary, paraprofessional, groundskeeper, custodian and media technician. Admissions and records technician, safety officer, library technician, accounting coordinator, and bus driver.
Support staff proud of the many hats they wear
Tom Torlakson thanks CFT members for crucial backing
At their annual conference, the Council of Classified Employees celebrated the diverse work of support staff in a dazzling panoply showing the many hats they wear.
CCE Southern Vice President Carl Williams called out classified job titles one after another. Secretary, paraprofessional, groundskeeper, custodian and media technician. Admissions and records technician, safety officer, library technician, accounting coordinator, and bus driver.
Tri-Counties Labor Council honors two local presidents
Two CFT members were named Labor Leaders of the Year by the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council: Steve Hall, president of the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, and Debra Stakes president of the Cuesta College Federation of Teachers. Congratulations Steve and Debra!
Your local union values your work all year long
By Paula A. Phillips, President, Council of Classified Employees
Every May, districts from San Diego to Susanville take time to recognize the contributions of their staffs. Classified School Employees Week is the third week of the month and pays tribute to staff members who play key roles in creating environments that promote student achievement, safety and health.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson described classified employees as “hard-working and devoted school employees who exemplify what commitment to school and student really is,” and as workers “who make the extra effort to support their students, schools and communities.” Torlakson is right. Annual recognitions are wonderful.
Courage Campaign honors Pechthalt with its United in Courage Award
The Courage Campaign, a CFT community partner, awarded CFT President Josh Pechthalt with the United in Courage Award on April 22 at Sacramento’s Citizen Hotel. The United in Courage Award is given each year to a progressive leader who exemplifies courage and collaboration in the pursuit of a more fair and just society.
Annual conference salutes four classified heroes
From Pasadena to San Francisco, staff make a difference every day
Nothing better illustrates the theme of this fall’s Classified
Conference, “Celebrating Our Role in Quality Education,” than the
staff who go above and beyond the call of duty.
The honorees were nominated by their unions and selected as
Members of the Year because they are positive role models for
workers and students, contribute to the success of the local, and
are committed advocates of high-quality education.
Unions partner with community allies, old and new
Classified are well outin front of the AFL-CIO’s new resolve to ramp up its partnering with community allies. Members are linking arms in efforts that especially resonate during the holidays.
Every child deserves Shoes that Fit
The College Staff Guild in Los Angeles is working with Shoes That
Fit to help kids start their day on the right foot. The
non-profit is dedicated to providing new shoes to needy children
so they can attend school in comfort and with dignity.
When workers stand together, we can win!
By Velma J. Butler, President, CFT Council of Classified Employees
I spent the day after Thanksgiving with family and friends at Walmart. We weren’t in front of the largest — and richest — retailer in the world for Black Friday sales. We were there to support employees standing up for what every worker wants: dignity and respect on the job.
Walmart’s formula for “success” is no secret. They offer cheap prices by paying suppliers around the world like dirt, paying their 1.4 million employees like dirt, and driving smaller competitors out of business. If other “big box” stores try to play by the same rules, it touches off a race to the bottom that spreads the pain.
What labor lost and won in Wisconsin
By Velma J. Butler, President, CFT Council of Classified Employees
There is no denying or candy-coating it: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was not recalled in the June 5 special election. Progressive voters led by public sector employees fell short of that goal, beaten in large part by a 7-1 flood of anti-union money.
Berry says unite now with faculty at for-profit colleges
PROFILE | Joe Berry
Meet Joe Berry. If you don’t know his work, you should.
Author of the book Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher Education, Berry has worked for decades in multiple states as both a part-time instructor and an organizer of part-time, contingent academic instructors. Recently retired from teaching Labor Studies, he continues to pour his time and energy into the struggle for the rights of the most vulnerable instructors in higher education.
The passage of Proposition 25 will help make California a working state
The members and leaders of CFT see that California’s education system, and our jobs, are placed at grave risk by a faltering economy, chronic late state budgets, and a paralyzed political process. On November 2, the rest of California agreed with us.
Voters passed Proposition 25, changing state budget approval to a majority, ending the tyranny of a two-thirds vote and the partisan groups that benefit from a revenue-starved government.
What we need today is some… Talking Blues
An activist's poem from the CFT President
By Marty Hittelman
I was up in Sacramento and all that I heard
was that unions were the problem with the evil they stirred
they were looking for Superman to make things right
“firing teachers will make kids bright”
Reduce funding, increase competition, teach kids to fill in the
bubbles.