Why We’re Supporting UTLA Educators
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Working without a contract for more than one year, our brothers and sisters in the Los Angeles Unified School District (some of whom are also LACCD adjunct faculty), have made the difficult decision to go on strike. The strike is now set to begin on January
14.
Their demands for improved conditions in the K-12 system might sound familiar – we, too, want our students to benefit from lower class sizes and more support services (e.g., librarians and counselors).
Here’s what you can do to support UTLA teachers:
- Contact an LAUSD school site’s union rep/chapter chair to let them know you’ll be joining the picket line and to ask how else you can help. Wear red or an AFT1521 t-shirt.
- Call Superintendent Austin Beutner at 213-241-7000 and School Board President Monica Garcia at 213-241-6480 to insist that they spend a substantial portion of their surplus $1.9 billion to fully fund LAUSD schools.
- Post on social media that you are standing with educators and our school community: #strikeready #redfored #utlastrong
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In Solidarity,
Joanne Waddell
AFT 1521 President
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Solidarity for UTLA
Guild members were among the tens of thousands of educators, students, parents, and community members people who marched through the streets of downtown Los Angeles on December 15 to support United Teachers Los Angeles in their demands that the Los Angeles Unified School District stop hoarding almost $2 billion in reserves and use it for teachers’ raises, smaller class sizes, and support staff, such as school nurses, counselors, and librarians. UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl told the crowd that if there is no settlement soon, teachers will strike on January 14.
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Celebrating a 50-Year Career
Congratulations to Pierce College faculty member Bernadine Pregerson (pictured above at center), who taught her last class in December after 50 years on the job at the Woodland Hills campus. Pregerson, 91, taught microbiology and was named professor of the year at Pierce multiple times. The college gave her a celebratory send-off complete with a mariachi band and more than two dozen attendees.
According to a story in the
Los Angeles Daily News
, Pregerson will continue her work as a personal trainer for the elderly and will also assist at a homeless shelter in Bell founded by her late husband.
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Promise Kept
Former LACCD Trustee, Assemblymember Miguel Santiago announced his new bill, AB 2, which will extend his current legislation giving first-time students their first year of free community college to include year two, at a press conference on December 4
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at Trade Tech. He was joined by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Trade Tech President Larry Frank, Trustees Mike Fong, Steve Veres, and David Vela, Dean of the College Promise program (and Guild member) Deborah Harrington, Guild President Joanne Waddell, Guild Political Director John McDowell, Trade Tech Chapter President Joe Guerrieri, and Grievance Rep Armine Javadyan.
“Assemblymember Santiago first told us at our membership meeting in May of his intention to author ‘year-two of free-college’ for second year full-time students,” said Waddell. “On December 3, the first day of the 2018-19 legislative session, he kept his promise and introduced his new legislation, AB 2.”
Last year, the College Promise added 4,000 FTES in California. This year, College Promise enrollments have increased by 25%. “In a year with a projected enrollment decline of 4%, the College Promise cohort is a bright spot,” said Waddell.
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Guild Provides Assistance with Unemployment Claims
When adjunct faculty have questions about unemployment or issues regarding their claims with the EDD, the Guild’s Adjunct Faculty Issues Committee Co-Chairs Kathy Holland and Kenneth Taira have been assisting them. They’ve updated the information on the Guild website on applying for benefits, including the salary calculator to reflect increases.
In addition, Taira presented EDD Unemployment Benefits workshops at Los Angeles Southwest College and West Los Angeles College last semester. Five adjuncts have sought assistance with appeals to letters from the EDD requesting them to pay back money for unemployment benefits from up to three years ago.
Next, the two AFIC co-chairs will be meeting with the District to straighten out discrepancies between EDD instructions about calculating weekly pay vs. what the District is reporting.
We are seeking to hire a Guild member at .2 release-time for four months/year (January, February, May, June) to help adjunct faculty who apply for unemployment benefits. If interested, send a resume and letter of interest to Robert Salazar at
RSalazar@AFT1521.org
by 4 pm on February 7th.
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Learning about the CBA
To thoroughly explain the changes in the most recent collective bargaining agreement, the Guild and the District offered two training sessions in November for department chairs, deans, and VP’s. They were held at East L.A. College and L.A. Valley College, with about 70 attendees at each one. “Our contract is ‘the heart and soul’ of our union, so these sessions were extremely important,” said Guild President Joanne Waddell.
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CFT Delegates Elected
The names of the 57 faculty elected by fellow Guild members to be delegates to this year’s California Federation of Teachers (CFT) Convention are posted on our
website
. The Guild Executive Board approved reimbursement of up to $250 for expenses related to convention attendance for the top vote-getter from each of our ten chapters and for an additional 17 members at large – those individuals’ names are highlighted in bold. The other 30 faculty listed were also elected to serve as voting delegates since the size of our membership entitles us to a large number of representatives.
The convention, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the (CFT), will be held at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles March 22-24.
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New in 2019! Change of HRA/FSA Provider
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By William Elarton-Selig, AFT 1521 Executive VP, Chair JLMBC
In 2019, the District will be transitioning the administration of the HRA and FSA from WageWorks to Connect-Your-Care.
- Any claims incurred between January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019 will be processed by WageWorks.
- Beginning April 1, 2019, all remaining funds will be transferred to Connect-Your-Care (please note there may be a short delay during the transitioning of funds).
- Your credit card issued by WageWorks will stop working on April 1, 2019.
- If you receive mail from Connect-Your-Care, do not discard it!
Connect-Your-Care will be distributing new cards for those enrolled in the HRA or FSA. The cards will function the same way that the WageWorks cards did previously. Details on how and when a new card will be issued are still being negotiated. Additional information will be sent out by the District as soon as it becomes available.
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Remembering Shoushan Baklayan
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AFT Local 1521 mourns the passing of retired LA Trade Tech College CAOT instructor Shoushan Baklayan. Her body and that of her adult son were found in a burned-out car that was charred in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu.
Baklayan was hired as a full-time faculty member in 1992 and worked 19 years as a full-time instructor. She has been described as a pioneer in developing computer networks and related college curricula when such systems were in their infancy. She retired in 2011.
Longtime CAOT faculty member and friend Paulette Bailey called Baklayan “a caring and thoughtful person…who meant so much to so many people."
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Use It or Lose It
Because the official “Day of Mourning” authorized by the federal government to honor the memory of former president George H.W. Bush fell on a weekday near the end of the fall semester, the Faculty Guild is in the final stages of negotiating an additional paid day off for full-time and adjunct faculty to be taken any time before the end of the 2018-19 academic year, which ends June 30, 2019. Similar to a PAL day, the negotiated day of mourning will not roll over into the next academic year. As with any absence, faculty will need to fill out the appropriate forms and submit them to administration before taking the time off.
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Motions Passed at the Executive Board meeting on
November 20, 2018
- Approved a Guild Social Justice Committee
- Endorsed Sharon Hendricks for re-election to the CalSTRS Board in 2020 and contributed $2,000 for her campaign
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