Dear Classified Professional AFT Guild Unit Members,
I am pleased to report that we have reached agreement with the District on the details of our 2026 Resource Allocation Formula (RAF) distribution, which includes continuing to make progress on a permanent reduction to our assigned workweek.
As previously messaged by Chancellor Smith, two of these components include:
1) Adding January 2nd as a paid District holiday (for 2026 only).
2) Moving forward with a 36 hour week pilot program for the period January 5th through April 3rd, 2026.
In addition, we have reached the following tentative agreements with the District:
3) The COLA from this year’s RAF allocation came out to only 1.70%. After much deliberation among our Executive Council members we have decided to “defer” this amount to next year’s RAF distribution as a “credit” that we can choose to use to offset the costs of the reduced workweek program, or we can choose to apply it to the salary schedule at that time. Since the actual costs of the reduced workweek are still being determined, we felt it was best to delay action on a permanent implementation of this (small) amount.
4) Since we won’t be putting the 1.70% COLA on the salary schedule this year, instead, we will be receiving a one-time off-schedule salary payment equal to 1.70% of your gross earnings for calendar year 2025. This one-time payment will be paid out on your March 31, 2026 pay warrant.
5) During the 36 hour workweek pilot period (Jan 5 – Apr 3), the following rules shall apply:
• During weeks that have fewer than 5 scheduled workdays due to holidays, unit members shall adhere to their regular daily schedule during that holiday week, with no changes in daily scheduling to account for the holiday.
• Classified Professionals who have less than a 1.0 FTE assignment will not have their workweek reduced during this pilot period.
• During this pilot, leave accrual, overtime assignments and pay, and all other terms, conditions, and benefits will continue to be based on a 40 hour workweek.
• Work hours assigned in excess of 36 hours, up to 40 hours per week, shall be paid at straight time but shall require approval of the appropriate Vice-President or Associate Vice-Chancellor and shall only be assigned in cases of critical business needs.
We realize with absolute clarity that this settlement isn’t going to make anyone a millionaire, but in light of the very small COLA we are receiving, and given the fact that we continue to make progress on a permanent reduction on our assigned workweek hours, we feel that on balance, this is a very good settlement and worthy of your ratification vote.
Please keep an eye on your inbox by the end of this week for an electronic ratification ballot coming via ElectionBuddy from: AFT Guild Local 1931 <invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com> . Your AFT Guild Executive Council strongly recommends your “YES” vote on this ratification.
We will be holding several Zoom meetings on the following dates to field any questions you might have regarding this settlement:
• Friday, December 5th, 12:30-1:30pm
• Monday, December 8th, 8:00-9:00am
• Tuesday, December 9th, 11:30am-12:30pm
Zoom link for all dates:
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
On behalf of your AFT Guild Executive Council, In Solidarity,
Jim
Jim Mahler, President
AFT Guild, Local 1931
