UC-AFT Insider February 2010
UC-AFT Insider
February 5, 2010
In this issue:
- Unit 18 Survey-- Layoff and Reduction in Time (Please Complete!)
- The Significance of March 4th
- Bob Samuel’s Huffington Post Article and Interview on All Things Considered
- Riverside Faculty Resolutions
- LAO Report on Schwarzenegger’s Higher Ed and Prison Funding Proposal
- UC-AFT Political Endorsements—Marcy Winograd and the California Democracy Act
- State Senate Passes Higher Ed Accountability Bills Supported by UC-AFT
- UC-AFT Executive Board Call for Nominations
- Know Your Rights— Article 17 Layoff, Reduction in Time, and Reemployment
Layoff and Reduction in Time Survey
UC-AFT is gathering information about the affects of budget cuts on the quality and quantity of non-Senate faculty positions. We have posted a brief survey online to help us gather this information. If you are a Lecturer, please click the link below and complete the survey. This survey will only take a few minutes of your time, but the information we gather will be very useful for understanding the extent of the impacts of budget cuts on our jobs.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UC-AFT_layoff_RiT
The Significance of March 4th
On March 4th, workers and students in all sectors of public education will participate in actions to raise awareness about the immediate and long-term effects of state defunding of education, and the trend toward privatization at the UC. This historic statewide day of action brings together stakeholders who’ve traditionally competed for education dollars and unites us in an effort to once again make education spending a priority for the State of California. For UC-AFT members, March 4th is an opportunity to expose the reduction in quality that occurs when our members, either in the classroom or the library, are laid-off, reduced in time, or given additional work.
We are beginning to post details of scheduled events on our website: https://ucaft.org/content/march-4th-statewide-day-action-californians-unite-support-education
For more information on March 4th events, visit these sites:
http://cft.org/index.php/campaigns/484-fight-for-californias-future.html
http://toodumbtolivearchive.blogspot.com/2010/01/san-francisco-labor-council-calls-for.html
http://defendcapubliceducation.wordpress.com/
Bob Samuel’s Huffington Post Article and Interview on All Things Considered
UC-AFT President Bob Samuels continues to spread the message that much of the UC budget crisis is a crisis of priorities, not finances. As we’ve seen in the last week, medical center profits continue to be distributed to the highest paid UC employees as bonuses, while cuts continue in the classroom.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-samuels/how-americas-universities_b_440954.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123035049
http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/
Riverside Faculty Resolutions
UC Riverside Faculty have passed what may be the most comprehensive set of resolutions yet passed by any UC campus Academic Senate in response to recent moves by the UC administration; these six resolutions support shared governance, transparency, the halting of cuts in instructional staffing, and fiscal responsibility. Vote counts are included.
http://senate.ucr.edu/mail_ballot_results.html
UC-AFT Political Endorsements—Marcy Winograd and the California Democracy Act
At our January 2010 Council meeting, UC-AFT welcomed our new Vice President for Legislation, Axel Borg. Axel is a Librarian at UC Davis who has been very involved with the UC-AFT Local, and he has been an effective leader in the effort to restore library funding there.
The Council also endorsed a candidate for Congress, and a state initiative. Marcy Winograd is a school teacher and public education advocate who is running for the 36th Congressional district, which covers most of the coast from San Pedro to Marina Del Rey. For more on Winograd, click here: http://tinyurl.com/y9ah2bv
UC Berkeley Professor and political strategist, George Lakoff, has authored an initiative with the hope of restoring majority rule on matters of tax and budget. Follow this link to a short letter from Lakoff, which includes a few ways you can support the initiative.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24346391/LakoffFacultyLetterEB-CL-Final
State Senate Passes Higher Ed Accountability Bills Supported by UC-AFT
SB 330 would update the California Public Records Act (CPRA) to include auxiliary organizations that perform government functions at the UC and CSU.
SB 650 would provide UC and CSU employees who report waste, fraud and abuse, with the same legal protections as other state employees. See the full story here:
http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/view/138964
LAO Report on Schwarzenegger’s Higher Ed and Prison Funding Proposal
Here’s a recent report from the Legislative Analyst opposing the governor's proposal to mandate fixed levels of funding for prisons and UC. Under the proposal, UC funding would increase as prison funding decreases.
The LAO is opposing this because mandating fixed shares of the general fund budget reduces budgetary flexibility from year to year. Unfortunately, the LAO continues to suggest student fee increase as a strategy for offsetting the state’s funding obligations for higher education. You can read this analysis at:
http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2010/edu/educ_prisons/educ_prisons_012610.aspx
UC-AFT Executive Board Call for Nominations
UC-AFT conducts annual elections for officers of the Systemwide Executive Board. The deadline for nominating a candidate is February 15. You will find the official Call for Nominations here:
https://ucaft.org/content/call-nominations
Know Your Rights—Article 17 Layoff, Reduction in Time, and Reemployment
With the exception of the length of the notice period, all rights granted under the MOU are the same for reduction in time and full layoff. The University has an obligation to consider alternatives to layoff including attrition, retirement, and voluntary reductions in time. When reductions in time occur, they should be in inverse order of seniority based on the number of months of service in the department at 50% or more. For a more extensive discussion of your rights concerning layoff, reduction in time, and reemployment, visit:
https://ucaft.org/content/know-your-rights#U18_Layoff
To read Article 17:
https://ucaft.org/content/unit-18
Membership
If you have not already joined the union, please fill out the attached membership form, or download one from our website. You are represented by UC-AFT, but representation and deductions from your pay do not mean that you are automatically a member. You can mail the completed application to the address on the bottom of the form, or contact your local staff for assistance.
https://ucaft.org/content/join-uc-aft
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.