Federal Judge sides with UC-AFT in lawsuit opposing Trump’s demand UCLA pay $1.2 billion settlement
In a major decision last Friday, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration in a case brought by UC-AFT with fellow UC unions and Senate faculty (pictured above). In the court victory, the judge ruled that the Trump administration cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement.
Under the pretense of addressing antisemitism at ULCA, the Trump administration had demanded terms that would violate the constitutionally protected free speech and association rights of faculty, students, and staff and fundamentally remake the UC system to align with the president’s ideology.
In her ruling, which applies across the UC system, Judge Rita Lin found that the Trump administration’s actions against UCLA were “coercive and retaliatory.”
Read more about the ruling in Cal Matters.
Buy California for California this holiday season
Today we are joining our community allies in the We Are California coalition to launch the Buy California For California campaign. Until the end of the year, we’re encouraging everyone to spend your hard-earned cash on the people from our neighborhoods, who really fuel our cities, care for their workers, treat customers with respect, and reinvest in their community.
As part of the national We Ain’t Buying it campaign, the Buy California for California campaign also includes a boycott of Amazon, Home Depot, Arco, and Target, four corporations that are enabling the Trump administration’s attacks on our communities and democracy.
For more on the campaign, including a link to lift up a small business you love, click here.
In memory of Chuck Canniff
Former CFT local leader and staff representative Chuck Canniff has passed away. Chuck received the Ben Rust Award, CFT’s highest honor, in 2008 for his decades-long service to CFT, which started in 1969 with his election as the first president of Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1794. Read more about Chuck’s many accomplishments here. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
News in Brief
The State Center Federation of Teachers takes a unanimous no-confidence vote in chancellor. This week members of the State Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1533, took a vote of no confidence in the district’s chancellor, Carole Goldsmith, calling for her immediate removal from office. “Under Goldsmith’s leadership, the district’s legal expenses have exploded, a team of bullies has enacted a culture of retaliation and fear, ignoring faculty expertise and silencing college voices,” said SCFT President Keith Ford, as reported in GV Wire. “Faculty morale is at an all-time low. Goldsmith preaches kindness, but the faculty’s experience of her leadership is very different from her carefully crafted public persona.”
Dec. 4 webinar: Unemployment Insurance workshop for contingent faculty – On Friday, December 4 at 4:30 p.m. CFT will host a webinar for part-time faculty on navigating unemployment. The workshop will guide faculty through the online unemployment filing process, for both new and reopened claims. How to deal with phone interviews, denials, and appeals will also be covered. Register here.
CFT classified leaders testify at PERS in support of Kaiser workers. CFT Council of Classified Employees President Carl Willaims, and fellow Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees member Lisa Agcaoili, testified this week in front of the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) board in support of Kaiser workers. Despite a profit margin exceeding 10%, Kaiser refuses to bargain a fair contract with thousands of Kaiser employees, forcing many to go on strike and disrupting patient care. Both Carl and Lisa urged PERS to send a clear message to Kaiser to stop stalling and bargain a fair contract that puts quality care first for members and patients throughout California, not Kaiser’s excessive corporate profits.
