Your AVCFT negotiating team has been meeting once or twice weekly throughout the semester. We have also sought input from members and will continue to do so. We heard a presentation by one of our members regarding salary concerns and will be utilizing the information provided. We intend to ask for a substantial increase, both in salary and in benefits, as part of our ongoing negotiations.
We know people are wondering about negotiations, and we want to provide an update on our progress. Negotiations with the District have been a slow and frustrating process. Here is an update on our progress.
We have met with the District eight times since the semester started. The Federation has been presenting proposals for different articles; unfortunately, the District has been slow to respond. We submitted two articles to the district in October and did not receive a counter-proposal on the first until February and we just received a counter-proposal to the second article last week.
We have tentatively agreed to language on Articles I-V.
Additionally, we signed an MOU on a new block schedule to increase the number of classes offered, which will begin this summer. In this new schedule, faculty who teach a 6:30 am class will receive a $500 stipend.
Last fall, we proposed an MOU for adjunct faculty health care. Unfortunately, the District refused to even entertain our proposal, despite the fact that there would have been NO additional cost to them.
We will be meeting with the District again this Friday, April 14th. We are hoping to get the contract settled this summer.
If you would like to support our efforts and join the AVCFT (Your Union), please use the link below and complete the online membership form.
Your union leadership is asking for feedback on future academic calendars, especially on the winter intersession, the start of the spring semester, and summer semester lengths.
This feedback comes from the great responses we have received from you. Remember that this is your union and is always open to receiving feedback.
The return next year to the traditional academic calendar is a legal requirement placed on the District. When the current calendar was implemented in 2019, it was done so in violation of the faculty contract, board policy, and, ultimately, state and federal law. The District is being ordered by the state to come into compliance with the law and the contract, so that is why the return. If the District wishes to reexamine a return to the current academic calendar and does so in a manner compliant with the faculty contract, board policy, and state and federal law, the union is not opposing those reexaminations.
There remains the option of a settlement agreement with the District that could allow for retaining the current calendar schedule. Some faculty have expressed a preference for this option. Though we maintain an open mind and are not opposed to any settlement talks, this is not the direction we wish to go at the moment. The reasons are several. First, considerable time and expense were expended seeking the current remedy, including legal costs and testimony. In 2019, at the December 9 Board meeting, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve an illegal calendar, and this was despite the input of constituent groups. The students, at that time, overwhelmingly supported keeping Winter Intersession (only 9% of students were dissatisfied with the calendar), and 83% of faculty supported retaining the winter intersession. The District argued that summer enrollments/FTES would increase and those course offerings in the sciences would increase in the summer session due to the 12-week option. FTES in Summer 2019 was 1036. Last summer it was 1029. The peak in summer FTES occurred, ironically, during the summer at the height of the pandemic when FTES was 1059. There has been no growth in summer FTES, despite the loss of Winter Intersession and summer expanding by 50%. Moreover, retention and success rates have plummeted in the 6-week summer courses, and it has been challenging to find faculty who will teach the 12-week sessions. Additionally, high school students cannot attend the 6-week and 12-week summer sessions because the high school schedule overlaps the start of the summer session. Lastly, Winter Intercession allowed students to complete course requirements for transfer at the end of Spring and opened up summer for employment and internship opportunities for our students.
Compared to 2020, we lost over 1800 FTES in 2022. Over 80% of that loss came from Intersession and Spring, the two most affected semesters by the calendar change. Summer overall had a much smaller loss (only 1.5%), but given it was expanded by 50% it’s clearly not giving us much of a boost in numbers. Winter Intercession FTES in 2020 was 414. That’s 23%, almost a quarter, of all FTES losses. We believe, separately from the legal issue, that the restoration of Winter Intersession will better serve our students, the college, and the community. Serving better during Winter Intersession can also come by serving our students through modalities that were not offered before.
In closing, some may have found a way to compensate for Intersession course losses in their area, but that is not a guarantee of all areas doing so. As the implementation of the current calendar was illegal, the District has a responsibility to identify who did lose and compensate them, as ordered by the state in their “make whole” provision of the judgment. Additionally, make whole encompasses more than just lost courses, but also faculty who lost outside income opportunities due to not having January available to them anymore.
Please join AVCFT President, Dr. Jason Bowen, for an informative FPD event on Thursday, February 16, at 6:30 p.m.:
Weingarten 101
Weingarten rights are vital to every employee. Join AVCFT leadership to discuss the process laid out by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA/contract) to cover cases of alleged performance or disciplinary problems. Included will be a discussion of faculty’s Weingarten rights. There will be time for questions.
The Faculty Union would like to hear from you regarding this proposal. The information gathered will be useful in our conversations with Administration.
Please review the materials prior to responding to the survey. Please complete the survey by Monday, January 30th at 12:00 PM.
The survey can also be accessed by clicking on the following link or copying and pasting it into your browser:
Public Comments made to AVC’s Board of Trustees on November 14 regarding part-time faculty healthcare (by Dr. Cindy Hendrix [AVCFT’s lead negotiator]):
“Good evening President Zellet and members of the board.
I am very disappointed that we have not gotten any feedback nor a counter-offer regarding the MOU for adjunct health care. Why is this? Back in October, the negotiating team was told that district counsel had to meet with admin to discuss the MOU. That was on October 18 and we still have heard nothing. What is the hold up? This MOU costs the district NOTHING and it helps our adjunct faculty tremendously. Yes, I know that the chancellor’s office still doesn’t have the forms and the process completely figured out, BUT THE MONEY IS THERE! Why should our faculty be held hostage to these processes beyond their control? Districts will get reimbursed and there is MORE than enough money in the reserve to cover any costs until reimbursements arrive.
Additionally, the Federation has submitted other articles (IV, V, VII) for which we have yet to receive a counter or agreement. On October 13, we had a Zoom negotiation session set, which the district had to cancel. They said we would exchange proposals by email. Our articles were sent and there was some discussion during the October 18 meeting, but we still have yet to get a counter. I know both sides are busy, but the Federation needs some feedback to move forward.
I hope we can make faster progress next semester.”
“California community college adjuncts saw the single greatest gain for part-time faculty ever—$200 million in ongoing annual funding for part-time faculty healthcare…The annual infusion to the Part-Time Community College Health Insurance Program—representing more than a 40,000% increase over the previous $490,000 allocation—was driven both by CFT’s strategic plan to address adjunct issues and by the CFT Legislative Committee’s effort to address the governor’s concerns cited in his veto of the workload cap legislation a year earlier.” [Source: CFT]
This win does not mean that part-time faculty automatically benefit since it has to still be negotiated. “AB190 encourages districts to provide healthcare coverage to part-time faculty by reimbursing districts for 100% of their healthcare costs provided they: 1. offer health insurance to all part-time faculty with an assignment equal or greater than 40% of a full-time assignment; 2. offer part-time faculty the same health insurance benefits provided to the full-time faculty in the district; 3. limit individual premiums paid by part-time faculty to no more than the premium paid by full-time faculty in the district; and 4. offer health insurance coverage to all multi-district part-time faculty with total teaching assignments equal or greater than 40% of a full-time assignment.”
We are currently discussing items 1-4 so that AVCFT can bring this win to AVC. Dr. Jason Bowen (union president) and Dr. Cindy Hendrix (lead negotiator) will discuss the matter in the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting on November 14 at 6:30 PM. If attending and making a comment, be sure to get there early to submit a public comment or print one ahead of time by clicking here.
In solidarity,
Alberto Mendoza González Larreynaga (Membership/Communications Director)
