A Message from UC-AFT President, Bob Samuels

Dear UC-AFT members, 

Last year our efforts in passing Prop 30 have resulted in probable state funding increases for the UC system. Governor Brown’s latest budget proposal increases UC funding by 5% next year and 4% each of the following two years. This additional money will stave off further cuts to instructional programs and hopefully stop fee increases again next year.  

UC-AFT is currently in negotiations for both the lecturer and librarian bargaining units.  The state funding increases proposed by Brown are designated for core instructional costs and the development of online courses for matriculated students. This proposed funding boost may be essential for our effort to secure salary increases needed to offset rising pension contributions and health care premiums, and to begin to close the librarian salary gap.   In July of this year, big changes will come to UC's pension fund in the form of a new pension tier for new hires and some existing employees.  Lecturers  will begin negotiations over these proposed benefits changes later this month, and the involvement of our members during the bargaining process will be critical to our success at the table. 

In early January, at an event with faculty leaders and managers from the online education industry, I spoke on a panel about the need for online programs to be faculty driven and based on quality of instruction rather than a hope for cost savings.  I delivered the same message at the January Regents meeting.  We are now starting to bargain over online education with the intent to strengthen our existing contract language to ensure protections around intellectual property, academic freedom, workload and compensation.  Many of our members use online tools in their courses, so it's essential that we get these protections firmly in place as UC's online program develops.

Last spring, UC-AFT took another significant move forward when our State Council adopted a new plan to mobilize our membership around key legislative and political goals.  This spring, UC-AFT is proud to announce the first steps of our new legislative program with a training for legislative committee members on April 20th, and our participation in the California Federation of Teachers Lobby Days on March 8-9.  We are currently looking for members from each campus to serve as legislative reps to help move this program forward.

UC-AFT's legislative agenda this year is focused on increasing transparency in the UC budget by requiring that UC account for the actual cost of educating different types of students within the system.  We believe that rational budgetary decisions must be based on these numbers, which UC doesn't currently calculate.  On February 26th, I testified at a public hearing of the Little Hoover Commission about my research on the real cost drivers in the UC and the need for better accounting and greater transparency in UC's budget.  I also spoke about  UC's online program and how it needs to be internally motivated, based on pedagogy not profit, and controlled by faculty.  Our legislative team will carry this same message to Governor Brown and state legislators in the coming months.

Finally, in addition to the union's work on each of the UC campuses, at the Office of the President and in the state capital, we are working in coalition with leaders from other faculty organizations to promote creative and workable solutions to the funding crisis in higher education.  Last week, on a press briefing organized by the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education, I presented an outline of my paper (and coming book) on how, if we redistribute current higher education expenditures nationally, we could make college free for all qualified students.   This type of coalition effort working on big reform ideas is what is necessary if we are to break the existing paradigm of rising costs transferred to students and employees in the form of tuition increases and reduced compensation. 

This promises to be another exciting and challenging year.  I leave with you with one piece of advice: get involved in your future by working with your union.   

Bob Samuels, President UC-AFT