

Corrective Action vs. Discipline
Last year, the FA negotiated a new, comprehensive article in our contract, Article L.3.0: Investigations, Due Process, and Discipline. Over the past several years, the number of Investigations in which faculty is involved, whether as a respondent, witness, or complainant has been increasing. We now have solidified language which outlines the procedures, defines critical terms, and ensures the rights of the faculty involved are protected through such proceedings. Two key items


Positive Changes for Fringe Benefits
This year, Mary Gross, Scott Fallstrom, and I represented full time faculty on the District’s Fringe Benefits Committee (FBC). Before I cover the proposal the Board approved on Oct. 15th, I would like to share a little bit of context for one of the best coming changes. If you have Kaiser, and you have utilized any mental health services, you were likely met with a disappointing level of service: there are very few providers in the Kaiser network (I heard there’s one), follow-

Overview of 2021 Negotiations
On July 1, 2021 our current, full time faculty contract will expire as we reach the end of its 3-year length. The FA is currently preparing for the negotiations and has had informal conversations with the district regarding the basic approach we are likely to take. The negotiation team is comprised of myself, dara, Mary Gross, Joe Salamon, and Annie Ngo. Mark Whitney will participate if the negotiations involve issues related to evaluation. The process we will follow will be


Negotiations on Contract Re-openers
When a full contract is approved, all subjects in the agreement are frozen for the length of the contract. The only exceptions to this are when unexpected working conditions situations arise (like the move to working fully online) and when both sides agree upon re-openers. Re-openers are a common feature of many multi-year agreements and provide a way to move forward without rushing to a decision on complex issues in a relatively short and hectic timeframe. As you may recall,