SAVE THE DATE: May 21, 2024 Classified Employees head to Sacramento for rally
SAVE THE DATE: CLASSIFIED RALLY AT
SACRAMENTO CAPITOL, MAY 21, 2024
Flexing our Power, Protecting our Progress
The annual Council of Classified Employees Conference took place at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco October 27-October 29. The theme of the conference was Flexing Our Power – Protecting Our Progress.
The conferenceaddressed the wins and fights ahead for Classified employees. Attendees joined workshops, mingled, participated in a game show, and bid on auction items like lunch with the President of CCE, Carl Williams. Members also heard from speakers, including CFT President Jeff Freitas, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, and Secretary Treasurer Lacy Barnes.
UESF's big win for paras shows strength and challenges for Classified workers
UESF President Cassondra Curiel told attendees at the CCE Conference that the union of 6,500 classified and certificated members just won one of the biggest tentative agreements in the history of the organization.
The bargaining team asked for a living wage at the beginning of bargaining. And they walked out at five o'clock in the morning, October 17 with the wage they’d asked for — $30 an hour for all paraeducators.
CFT President Jeff Freitas is focused on building power for classified members
“We have made sure that we represent everybody in the field of education in the classroom, as well as outside of the classroom,” Freitas said. “We cannot open our schools without the classified, we cannot have our classes, the students could not get there without bus drivers, they would not be fed without cafeteria workers, they would not be welcomed in the morning without classified employees. We cannot have that without you. So, thank you for what you do.”
Assemblymember Mia Bonta highlights importance and admiration for classified employees in our schools
Assemblymember Mia Bonta pointed out that classified workers were on the front lines during the pandemic and daily they deal with the culture wars in this country. She said she, along with the CFT, was pushing for a bill to set staffing ratios and she would fight to implement the ratios once they passed.
Bonta told classified workers she will be there on the Capitol steps at the classified rally on May 21 and would continue working on legislation and political action to win power.
“My brothers and sisters and siblings in action, you know we’re going to fight,” Bonta said. “And what happens when we fight?”
CCE President Carl Williams: “I encourage you to fight and Flex your Power!"
Carl Williams, President of the Council of Classified Employees and AFT Vice President, started out his address to attendees by telling them he wasn’t going to preach to the choir. He wasn’t going to talk about how classified workers are the last hired and first fired. Or how they aren’t paid a living wage often leading to long commutes because they can’t afford to live where they serve. Or how public education relies on classified workers for its existence.
Instead, Williams wanted to talk about the theme of the conference — Flexing Our Power, Protecting Our Progress.
CCE Conference hosts Anti-racist workshop for members
At the workshop, “Anti-Racist Actions We Can Take in Our Personal and Work Lives,” at the annual CCE Conference in San Francisco, Tamika Childs, associate director of AFT’s Union Leadership Institute, told the participants they would have some difficult conversations.
The two objectives for the workshop were raising awareness of one’s biases and anti-racism actions to take.
Sunday Funday: Final day of CCE 2023 filled with excitement
The Council of Classified Employees President Carl Williams and Southern Vice President Tina Solórzano Fletcher work hard for the union, but they both also like to have fun. So, Sunday morning before attendees left, the two leaders hosted a game show, Kahoot!, along with presiding over an auction and a raffle (the proceeds went to a fund for classified employees to attend events like the conference).
In a well-attended Student Loan Debt workshop the facilitators offered information to those struggling to pay back student loans.
The workshop covered how student loan debt particularly hits women and people of color, and although some people may think it’s a young person’s problem, about 20 % of those holding debt are Americans over 50.
CFT – A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals
Jeffery M. Freitas, President
L. Lacy Barnes, Secretary Treasurer
Juan Ramirez, Executive Vice President
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Classified Insider, Winter 2023
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