FAQs

CFT locals set their own dues, using democratic decision-making processes that their members have put in place. Generally, most CFT locals set their dues at 1.5-2% of a member’s gross pay, but this is up to members and leadership to decide. As union members, we will be our union, and we will make these decisions democratically, with consideration for our priorities and the financial health of all faculty.

Minimum dues amounts are set by per-capitas– the amount that locals pay towards CFT and AFT, based on the number of members and employees in their unit. This amount, which is .9-1% right now, is decided on by members, statewide, at our bi-annual convention. When setting per-capitas, membership takes into consideration what sort of resources we need to support our members throughout the state. As with local does, this amount is voted on by members. These resources go towards campaigns and coordination, like our statewide part-time faculty health care campaign. What other sort of improvements do you think we could make as a union, with local, state, and national resources and support?

CFT provides its locals with expert support and representation, including legal support, field representatives who assist in negotiating and enforcing contracts, organizing support staff, trainings for union leaders and members–and other valuable resources for any union, such as data and financial management support. CFT also advocates for community college faculty through statewide initiatives such as our Part-Time Healthcare Campaign. CFT locals use their dues to build budgets for campaigns to support their members, whether they are contract campaigns or member education campaigns. This happens at the national level as well. AFT advocates for educators nationwide through campaigns to erase student debt and promote safe, affordable education environments for our students.

Glaringly, the agreement that PCCFA reached with the district does little to actually improve health care access for part-time faculty. It’s:

• Unaffordable:  average monthly cost of $253

• Low quality: zero options or flexibility on plans

• Inaccessible: it runs only semester by semester and doesn’t include any option for dependent coverage

While this may seem like a win, and indeed does provide some form of healthcare to faculty who were up until recently almost completely denied employer-sponsored coverage due to their part-time status, it pales in comparison to CFT’s Part-Time Healthcare campaign wins.

Due to a new law, AB 190, secured by California Federation of Teachers (CFT) members in 2022 that provides a $200 million annual funding stream dedicated to providing part-time faculty healthcare, community college faculty unions can bargain to include part-time faculty at .4 and above in the same health insurance plans as full-time faculty, and districts can get reimbursed at up to 100% of the cost by the state. Unfortunately, the recent Pasadena City College Faculty Association (PCCFA) agreement falls short of current standards and fails to make full use of AB 190 funds and results in both Pasadena City College (PCC) and its faculty paying more money for worse healthcare.

Under AB 190, districts who meet four healthcare conditions – by offering affordable, quality and accessible plans to part-timers and freeway flyers – will be reimbursed up to 100% of their cost, while districts who fall short of these conditions will only be reimbursed at a 50% rate. Because the PCCFA agreement does not meet the current requirements as it only partially covers the cost of insurance, covers the employee only and does not cover the employees' spouses, partners or dependents, the district will only be reimbursed at the 50% rate. On the other hand, if PCCFA had fought for CFT’s platform and won an agreement offering the same plans at the same costs that full-timers get, the state would have reimbursed PCC for up to 100% of the entire cost. Instead, by falling short of these conditions and receiving only 50% reimbursement, faculty and their families are stuck with the healthcare bill instead of the cost being covered up to 100% by AB 190.

After a successful lobbying effort and  member mobilization, CFT secured from the state a $200 million annual allocation that would reimburse community college districts the cost of providing healthcare to part-time faculty. This monumental win for part-time faculty and their dependents comes at no cost to the district. This is because this MOU meets four conditions in AB 190. This was a trailer bill that accompanied the budget increase for the Part-Time Community College Health Care Program that reimburses districts 100% of its part-time faculty health care costs if they offer healthcare that is high-quality, affordable, accessible, and provide reimbursements for part-time faculty working across districts.

You are engaging in legally protected union activity. Legally, employers and unions cannot retaliate against employees for organizing. Since this is a decertification, realistically, the District may not care, but our current FA may do things to push faculty to vote against our efforts. If you suspect that someone is retaliating against you for supporting this campaign, please let us know right away.

All faculty at PCC would be represented in our new, inclusive union: full- and part-time, credit and non-credit, counseling, and library faculty. This is why faculty across PCC have been organizing in this effort. We are stronger when we move together! Will you join us in building a strong union?

First, we celebrate! We will have successfully formed a union affiliated with one of the most powerful educator unions in the state. 

Our contract will remain status-quo, and CFT legal support and field representatives will begin working with us to ensure we negotiate a fair, strong contract with the district. We will also hold our own elections and draft a democratic constitution and bylaws, making sure that all faculty at PCC are fully represented and always have a voice in our union.

We were gearing up for a runoff election in Spring 2023, because neither the FA or CFT received enough votes to win the election. Unfortunately, the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) surprised us by ruling to uphold the FA’s request to reject our original petition, based on its use of electronic authorization cards instead of paper cards. So, we filed another petition with paper authorization cards in order to call an election so that we can all vote for CFT to represent us! We successfully collected enough paper authorization cards to re-petition before the contract was finalized, which means that over 400 faculty members are still ready to vote YES for CFT! 

We will have another election this Fall semester. Ballots will be mailed to our home addresses on October 9th, and must be returned by November 13th! Don't forget to send yours in!

Full-time faculty are eligible to vote if they are employed by PCC on the last day of payroll period that includes September 5, 2023.

Part-time faculty are eligible to vote if (a) their work on behalf of the District includes serving in a bargaining unit position during two or more of the last six instructional terms (Spring 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Summer 2023, and Fall 2023), including at least one of the most recent three instructional terms (Spring 2023, Summer 2023, and Fall 2023); and (b) the District has not disciplined them for wrongdoing by terminating them or barring them from reemployment.

PERB will be mailing ballots to all voters’ home addresses on October 9. 

Voters will need to clearly mark their ballot and mail them back to PERB on time, as with last time. Make sure that you clearly mark your ballot for CFT and mail it immediately to avoid having your ballot challenged after it is returned. If you need a duplicate ballot, you can request one from PERB no later than October 25th at 4:00 PM.

Can we count on you to mark and mail your ballot as soon as you get it?

PERB will use the address that you provided your employer, Pasadena City College. If you have not updated your address with you should do that now by logging into Lancerpoint.

The election process is overseen by PERB, and is a secret ballot. While PERB will identify you as an eligible voter, no one will see how you vote.