UC-AFT Insider December 2017

University Council-AFT Insider
December 10, 2017
 

In this issue:

·CFT Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund

·New Employee Orientation Agreements: First Ever Lecturer (Unit 18) Specific Orientations

·Action Alert: UC-AFT Resolution in Opposition to GOP Tax Bills

·No Accountability for UC’s Top Brass--Napolitano Audit Scandal

·Update from Churning Meeting at UCLA

CFT Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund

CFT has set up a disaster relief fund to support our members who are impacted by the fires. Please consider making a donation to the fund. And, if you have been personally impacted by the fires, or know a fellow CFT member who has, please contact CFT Deputy Director Sarah Callahan at scallahan@cft.org immediately.

New Employee Orientation Agreements: First Ever Lecturer (Unit 18) Specific Orientations

We have reached agreement with UC on new employee orientation language for both lecturers and librarians. The historic Unit 18 agreement, which includes first-ever, unit-specific orientations, has the potential to greatly alleviate confusion and uncertainty among new faculty. These orientations will allow our new colleagues to meet their union reps, get questions answered, and sign up as union members at a convenient time and place, shortly after hire. Big thanks to everyone who completed the bargaining survey: we structured our proposals to respond to the stories and experiences collected in the survey, including the strong preference for in-person orientations. Check the UC-AFT website for highlights and copies of the final agreements.

Action Alert: UC-AFT Resolution Opposed to the GOP Tax Bill—Calls to Legislators
The devastating GOP tax bills require reconciliation in conference committee and then a vote in both chambers before a final bill goes to the president’s desk. Please take a minute to read UC-AFT’s resolution in opposition to the GOP tax scam. Then, make calls to CA legislators who may be susceptible to pressure on this vote. Contact information for key legislators is posted at the bottom of the resolution. Finally, please add your name to this petition circulated by the March for Science and endorsed by a raft of academic organizations.

No Accountability for UC’s Top Brass--Napolitano Audit Scandal
A State audit of the UC Office of the President in spring 2017 revealed $175 million in previously undisclosed funds. During the audit, a whistleblower reported that Napolitano’s office had inappropriately intervened in the collection of audit surveys. In a tense legislative hearing in May, Napolitano disputed the audit’s numbers and minimized the intervention. An investigation was launched and the results showed that Napolitano approved a plan to collect, influence and modify campus responses to the State Auditor’s survey. Two top staffers resigned and the Regents discussed and demurred on discipline for Napolitano at their November meeting. The Mercury News Editorial Board has called for Napolitano’s ouster, and Gavin Newsom, who was very recently endorsed by CFT for CA Governor, has said that he would have liked to see disciplinary action for Napolitano.

Update from Churning Meeting at UCLA
The first meeting resulting from the “churning” side letters took place at UCLA on December 6. UC management violated the terms of our agreement no fewer than three times before we even started the discussion, but we are committed to moving the process forward in order to raise job stability levels for all our members. At the meeting, we questioned the administration about 50 lecturers from 7 departments who were not reappointed this year. In many cases, UC’s explanation for the non-renewals was not satisfactory. This work will continue with additional inquiry and grievances when appropriate.

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The University Council – American Federation of Teachers is an affiliate of the California Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO.