Guild News: Solidarity
by Zohara Kaye
Guild President
Glendale College Guild has been fortunate to have strong faculty leadership and member engagement since its inception. We built on that foundation last year, and prioritized building the power of our union even further. We joined forces with CFT’s Building Power campaign, which we will continue with this year.
- We increased our membership from 68% to 82%. While these numbers may seem meaningless, remember the union is a democratic organization and the power is in the hands of our members. An increase in member engagement is at the heart of improving faculty wages, benefits, and working conditions, but also has a trickle down effect of improving the community.
is to increase membership to 90% and provide every faculty an opportunity to join the Guild and have her/his voice heard.
- We increased member engagement in our union. Mobilizing to show up at Board of Trustees meetings and wearing blue on Tuesdays played an important part in showing our unity. However, that was only step one. The Guild Executive committee formed three task forces last year to provide a safe forum to identify and discuss issues, analyze potential solutions, and make recommendations for improvements. All faculty are encouraged to join one or more of these task forces, and network with your colleagues. They are:
- Part-Time Equity Task Force
- Workload Equity Task Force
- Racial Equity Task Force
Additionally, we formed our MnM Task Force to help with member recruitment, mobilization, and political action.
is to double our member activists in the MnM Task Force from 35 to 70 MnMers. Also, we are recruiting additional members to join the Part-Time Equity, Workload Equity, and Racial Equity task forces.
- We ratified a 4.5% (for full time) and 5.5% for (part time) salary increase over 2015-16 and 2016-17 and our 2015-18 collective bargaining agreement. This round of negotiations is definitely of historic significance for our union. For the first time since 1982, we were at impasse with the District with a contract that expired on June 30, 2015. A salary agreement was finally reached at the end of the third mediation session with a PERB assigned mediator. However, one of our openers on proportional office hours for all part-time faculty, is carried over to this year. (See quote below)
is to to finish negotiations on part-time office hours, to negotiate the four reopeners selected for this year, and to negotiate a 2017-18 salary raise.
- Along with our brothers and sisters in CSEA, we helped gather signatures for the extension of Proposition 30 - now Proposition 55, which extends the income tax portion only, and is on the November 2016 ballots.
Additionally, Guild and CSEA support Measure GC which will appear on the November 2016 ballots of Glendale residents. Guild members endorsed Measure GC at our September 20 membership meeting and California Federation of Teachers (CFT) endorsed Measure GC at the State Council held on September 24 in Sacramento.
is to to get the word out about Prop 55 and Measure GC so that voters can make informed decisions.
The latest salary offer from the District proposed that the 2.75% portion of the 4.5% raise for full-time faculty, and 5.5% raise for adjunct faculty, set to expire in July not be extended, and additionally countered with 0% for 2016-17 and 0% for 2017-18. This would effectively make the raises for the 2015-18 collective bargaining agreement only 1.75% for full-time faculty and 2.75% for adjuncts over three years.”
In Unity,
Zohara G. Kaye
President
Glendale College Guild, AFT Local 2276
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The latest salary offer from the District proposed that the 2.75% portion of the 4.5% raise for full-time faculty, and 5.5% raise for adjunct faculty, set to expire in July not be extended, and additionally countered with 0% for 2016-17 and 0% for 2017-18. This would effectively make the raises for the 2015-18 collective bargaining agreement only 1.75% for full-time faculty and 2.75% for adjuncts over three years.”