Dear SDCCD AFT Guild Members,
As you are all well aware , the COVID pandemic has presented us with many challenges, especially as external circumstances continue to quickly evolve.
Our Union has been able to quickly respond and successfully negotiate some targeted temporary changes to our collective bargaining agreements to address these challenges.
As the new school year begins, other challenges have been identified and I am pleased to report that we have reached a tentative agreement with the District (pending ratification) on a further set of temporary changes to our collective bargaining agreements to help guide us through this pandemic with the least amount of adverse effect on our members as possible.
The following temporary modifications to our collective bargaining agreements, if ratified by our membership, will be effective September 1, 2020, and continue in effect through June 30, 2021, after which time these temporary modifications shall sunset and the status quo contract language will resume in full force and effect. The proposed modifications are as follows:
1) Adjunct faculty members who are currently receiving District health benefits shall not have their benefits terminated during this period provided they can produce an affidavit stating they are not eligible to receive benefits from any other source (spouse, other employment, etc.). The District will use Fall 2021 and Spring 2020 semester assignments to determine eligibility for continued coverage. The District will be sending the required affidavit out to affected adjunct faculty. This means that no adjunct faculty member shall lose their healthcare benefits throughout the next 12 months regardless of their load, even if they have no assignment whatsoever. This is a huge win for us as it will guarantee that no one currently receiving District benefits will have their benefits discontinued during this pandemic! It also means that adjunct faculty will not need to re-qualify with two semesters of eligibility if the average of their Fall 2021 and Spring 2020 (no typo here) assignments are 50% FTEF or greater.
2) Prior to returning to work on-campus, or as their first function upon returning to work on-campus, Classified Professionals and Faculty will confirm via email to their immediate supervisor that they have watched the training videos regarding safety guidance requirements issued by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) related to COVID–19. These videos are available to watch online and the links to view them will be provided to you if you are asked to return to campus. However, this does not mean that a return to work for most employees is imminent. It is not. This is “just in case” anyone has to return to work. You will be contacted by your supervisor/manager if you need to view these.
3) Classified Professionals and Faculty will be limited to one additional salary step (classified) or salary class (faculty) advancement due to educational incentives or other salary advancement rules in addition to their regular annual step advancement. This means that if you take additional educational units to advance more than one step or class, that during this current year, you will be limited to only one such movement. If you take additional units, those units should all still be submitted in a timely manner, but they will be “banked” by HR until the end of this fiscal year and then applied. Everyone’s regular annual step movement which takes place in January or February for contract employees, and after every 450 hours for adjunct employees, will remain unaffected by this provision. In other words, regular longevity based step movements continue to occur as scheduled.
4) Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty will be subject to unequal distribution of their 1.0 FTEF workload over the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters provided their annualized workload averages to 1.0 FTEF. Any workload imbalances will not affect their regularly scheduled 10-month contract monthly base salary payments. There are some faculty in some disciplines that have not been able to make their full 1.0 FTEF load this fall. This provision simply allows them to “load balance” into the spring semester to ensure they meet their 1.0 FTEF load for the academic year.
5) Extended Service Units for Coaching related activities will continue to be paid as per past practice, even if the semester of the actual athletic activity does not take place during the traditional semester it has in the past. In no case will any coach receive additional ESUs for the academic year due to their athletic activity taking place in the spring semester instead of the fall. This ensures ESUs continue to be paid as per our past practice, even if fall sports are delayed until the spring.
6) The parties will meet and confer regarding unit members who have exhausted all paid leaves as a result of not being able to report to work due to one or more of the following circumstances:
- The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID–19.
- The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19.
- The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
- The employee is caring for or residing with an individual who is subject to an order as described in subparagraph (1) or has been advised as described in paragraph (2).
- The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID–19 precautions.
- The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.
Since this is a relatively complex and comprehensive list of changes, we have scheduled two open forums to discuss this package on Tuesday, September 1st from 3:00-4:00, and Wednesday, September 2nd, from 4:00-5:00pm (Zoom meeting info below). After these forums, all AFT Guild members will be emailed an electronic election ballot that will allow you to vote to ratify or reject this package. You will receive this ballot at the same email address at which you received this message.
As these changes will go a long way toward helping many of our members during this difficult time, especially our adjunct faculty who are in jeopardy of losing their healthcare, your AFT Guild Executive Council strongly urges you to vote and to ratify this agreement.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me, or any of your AFT Guild Executive Council Officers, or attend one of our upcoming forums, if you have any questions regarding the foregoing.
In Solidarity,
Jim