Full content articles introduced on the UF home page.
Purpose
The purpose of UF is to maintain and improve the salary, benefits, and working conditions of all GCCCD faculty. As such, we act as the sole bargaining agent and representative for all faculty members of the district. For years, GCCCD faculty salaries have ranked in the lower percentiles of California Community Colleges. We are currently ranked lowest in the County and 56th out of 71 across the state. In representing you the faculty, our purpose is to improve our salary standing, to gain full coverage of benefits for all faculty members, and to preserve and improve the terms of our contract.
The next article (What UF Does) describes our work in doing so.
What UF Does
UF is the sole bargaining agent and representative for all certificated faculty members of the district. UF negotiates with the district in order to come to agreement on the terms of our contract. A proposed contract is then presented to the faculty for ratification. At the same time, the board is presented with the opportunity to certify the contract.
Our current contract (approved in August 2006) is in effect for three years through June 2009. During this time, UF will be working continuously to ensure that terms of the contract are met by the district, that faculty members are represented in all disputes with the district, and that, if necessary, faculty members are defended in whatever venue required.
Major articles or content of the contract are:
- Article IV: Governance - determines reassigned time, selection of chairs and coordinators, and their compensation. Defines how we govern ourselves and how responsible persons will be selected and remunerated.
- Article V: Evaluation and Tenure - determines the components used in the evaluation of all faculty members (even tenured faculty members are evaluated every three years). Sections address the evaluation of contract faculty, tenured faculty, part-time faculty, and temporary contract faculty.
- Article VII: Working Conditions - determines working conditions for classes of faculty to include hours of work, duties, qualifications, determination of WSCH/FTE and teaching load, overload banking, number of preps, large class compensation and teaching assistants, class maximum determination, etc.
- Article VIII: Faculty Service Areas, Transfer, layoff, reemployment - defines determination of competencies, rights in event of layoff or reduction in force, procedures to follow in event of declining enrollment, order of termination, retreat rights, reemployment preferences, retraining, assignment, transfer, and the right to grieve.
- Article IX: Compensation and Benefits - terms of payment and negotiations, alignment of part-time/extra pay with 10 month faculty pay, recommendation of Benefits Committee, payment of premiums, event of death, taking classes without enrollment fees.
- Article X: Retirement - pre-retirement workload reduction, contributions to State Teacher's Retirement System (STRS), Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP), annuity upon retirement, service after retirement.
- Article XI: Part time faculty - scheduling of assignments, reemployment preference, definition of salary and benefits, rights of displacement, exceptions upon declining an assignment, access to facilities, retirement plan (PEAR), consideration for full-time positions.
- Article XIII: Leave - sick, bereavement, personal, military, etc.
- Article XIV: Sabbatical Leave - as a "stimulus to the improvement of education", purpose, eligibility and number of opportunities available, criteria for consideration, application and selection procedures, evaluation of proposals, report on activities, compensation, continued credit for retirement service credit.
- Article XV: Professional growth - activities and conference attendance undertaken in order to improve professional abilities and knowledge in the classroom and for advancement.
- Article XVIII: The Grievance Process - in order to "resolve grievances at the lowest administrative levels", to protect the rights of all parties. Definition, conciliation, levels and procedures, right to representation and apportionment of costs, no punitive action.
Unity
A word - or is it just a word? In the case of our UF and CSEA labor organizations here at the Grossmont Cuyamaca Community College District the word signifies much more! It signifies a common purpose and spirit that exists here on our campuses today.
Purpose. Our common purpose is to prevail in our dispute with the Board and District as regards fair and earned compensation for all employees as well as to demonstrate that the Board and District have more than adequate means available to provide that compensation.
Spirit. Members of the UF and CSEA organizations share a common spirit to persevere and to demonstrate to the Board and District that we are a unified group composed of some of the most important individuals on our campuses - the faculty that plan and present instruction and the staff that make that possible.
To further these goals and in order to give members of UF and CSEA the opportunity to articulate their concerns and to reinforce their common purpose and spirit, UF members will be joining and participating in CSEA's weekly Unity Breaks. The meetings will take place every Tuesday from 3:00 to 3:15 p.m. The location at Cuyamaca is in front of the Communications Art Building. At Grossmont, the meeting will be held in the main quad. At the District offices, everyone will gather in Parking Lot 4 in front of Ben Lastimado's office.
All thanks go to our CSEA colleagues for establishing these solidarity gatherings. The United Faculty Steering Committee encourages all faculty to attend and participate. In addition to the forums scheduled and hosted by UF, this will be your chance to remain informed and to further nurture the spirit of unity that is growing on our campuses.
Negotiations Never Ending
In order to formulate negotiation issues and to negotiate the terms of our contract, UF fields a negotiating team composed of members of the UF Steering Committee. Their charge is to conduct negotiations with district representatives. Negotiation sessions occur as expiration of an existing contract approaches and then weekly throughout the school year as UF or the district proposes articles of the contract to be reopened. According to Article 21.2 of our current contract, Salary and Fringe Benefits will be reopened to negotiation each year and either party (UF or the district) may reopen up to two additional articles each year. As a result, negotiations may seem never ending to the members of the UF negotiating team because they are being conducted all the time. Every Wednesday, from 2:00 to 5:00PM UF representatives and GCCCD representatives meet to continue negotiations. (See the Negotiations Update for progress.)
Benefits Challenge
The biggest challenge facing faculty in the area of Benefits is to get the district to pay all benefits costs for all faculty. This is a challenge everywhere! The level of benefits enjoyed by employees are under attack across the breadth of American corporations and state entities. Health and other benefit costs continue to spiral upward forcing more and more employee groups to see a reduction in benefits coverage and/or availability.
Several years ago, we were facing the same spiral upwards. In order to address the issues, our Benefits Committee proposed the concept of a self funded, self managed benefits plan. This was approved by employee groups, and the idea appears to be working! Last year, when many organizations were seeing double digit growth in benefits costs, the GCCCD district saw only a 5% increase. In order to make further progress, we recently switched provider networks from CCN to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. We will see bills soon, but again, early indications are very good!
Now, UF would like the district to translate this progress into full benefits coverage for all faculty. Through negotiations, UF continues to pursue this objective. In our most recently ratified contract, the district responded by offering for the first time a benefits package to part timers. But, there is progress still to be made! UF will continue to work for full funding of benefits for all faculty.
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