Good Morning Faculty,

 

AFT 1828 began mediation for Compressed Calendar Negotiations with the District in June, but we remain gridlocked over many of the same important issues that affect faculty rights. Even after four mediation sessions, it feels as if we have not moved the needle since AFT 1828 declared impasse on March 17. However, the District’s team continues to present a different story to the Board:

 

• The District insists on offering no additional compensation for classroom faculty who teach excessive instructional hours in a compressed calendar. They argue that “faculty will work fewer hours.” In reality, faculty will be teaching more hours in fewer days and less weeks.

• The District’s team is promoting the narrative that faculty will teach fewer hours, which may negatively impact negotiations for a raise in the major CBA reopener.

• Their team sold the Board on the premise that a one-time stipend of $750 (and a prorated amount for non-contract classroom assignments) is adequate compensation for teaching excess hours and converting our courses to a compressed calendar.

 

Mediation rules prohibit sharing details of what is at the table, yet the District is allowing AFT to share some items so we can survey our members. There are inconsistencies in the proposed CBA that must be resolved before settling the Compressed Calendar Negotiations to avoid unintended consequences that will impact our members and our students:

 

• Faculty will lose the right to file a grievance over the scheduling of excess hours in a compressed calendar if this current version of the contract is ratified.

• Full-time classroom faculty who teach four 4-unit in-person courses could teach up to 28.8 excess instructional hours annually compared to current scheduling. Faculty who teach five 3-unit in-person courses could teach up to 19 excess instructional hours per year without compensation.

• Managers who do not understand how to convert to a compressed calendar may resort to scheduling most sections as online or hybrid.

• To avoid these inconsistencies and inequities, full-time faculty may request to be assigned all online or hybrid sections rather than any full-semester face-to-face courses.

• If we settle the contract in its current form, classroom faculty and students will be the most negatively impacted.

 

The district’s team continues to insist that faculty will work fewer hours under a compressed calendar. Yet, on page 1 of the SAAM Addendum, it clearly states:

 

“It should be noted that, like with any academic calendar configuration, a compressed academic calendar may impact workload conditions, but those need to be reviewed and negotiated at the district level.”

 

In the document Understanding and Calculating FTES and Efficiency, published by the CCCCO’s Strategic Enrollment Management Program, it states:

 

“The benchmark to keep in mind is the 3-hour class in a traditional 17.5-week semester: total meeting time in 3-unit, 3-hour classes is 52.5 hours (3 hours × 17.5 weeks = 52.5 hours). Notice that as the semester length is shortened, the weekly contact hours are increased. Also, as a result of the calculation formulas, the total student contact hours increase from 52.5 total student contact hours in a traditional 17.5-week semester to more than 54 hours.”

 

 

STEPS TO A RESOLUTION

 

AFT must now decide whether to settle in mediation or proceed to fact-finding. AFT 1828 needs to know which issues members view as essential and which are expendable.
 

What should we accept from the District? What should we demand? Should we move to fact-finding or press the District to work out the details?

 

If the District refuses to reach a settlement through mediation, the mediator will release both parties to fact-finding. In this stage, a three-person impartial panel will convene and conduct a hearing. At the hearing, both parties will present their arguments and data. The panel will then deliberate and issue a fact-finding report with non-binding recommendations to the Board of Trustees, who may take one of the following actions:

 

• Accept the report as-is or with modifications

• Reject the report in full

• Order the District’s team back to the bargaining table with AFT for further negotiation

• Impose the District’s last and final offer from March 17, 2025, on faculty

 

 

COMPRESSED CALENDAR SURVEY #5 & “AFT KNOW WHAT’S UP” EVENT

 

An invitation to Survey #5 will be sent to the email address you provided to AFT 1828 for union correspondence this afternoon. The survey will remain open until Tuesday, November 11, at midnight. There is a lot of information covered within it, so please allow ample time and read each page carefully. Members will be allowed to exit and renter the survey, and change responses up to the date and time it closes. 

 

If, for any reason, you do not receive the email invitation, please check the spam folder in all possible email accounts you may have provided AFT. If you do not locate the invitation, please notify our office manager at officemanager@aft1828.org.  You may also email the chief negotiator at ncole.aft1828@gmail.com for assistance.

 

To provide more detail about the issues covered in the survey and to answer questions from members, the team will host an emergency “AFT Know What’s Up” event on November 5, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the Orchid Room at the union office. Food and drinks will be provided.  We will stream the event live on Zoom so members who cannot attend in person may participate virtually. This will allow faculty to follow along, complete the survey, or revise their responses during the event if desired.

 

Please RSVP to the event or retrieve the Zoom link by emailing our office manager at officemanager@aft1828.org at least 24 hours before the event. 

 

In unity,
 

Nathan Cole
Chief Negotiator

ncole.aft1828@gmail.com