CFT resources to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month takes place September 15 to October 15 every year to recognize and celebrate the contributions, diverse cultures, and histories of the American Latino community.

Acknowledging these contributions began in 1968 as a week-long celebration under President Lyndon Johnson and was extended to a month during President Ronald Reagan’s term in 1988 after the idea was introduced by California Congressman George E. Brown.

In support of the month-long celebration, we’ve put together a great set of resources for the classroom, including lessons on Latinx history, politics, art, and civil Rights, as well as further resources for home, family, and beyond.

Another great week for the CFT part-time faculty healthcare campaign

It was another great week for the CFT part-time faculty healthcare campaign with CFT local leaders and activists from multiple unions taking part in two more regional kick off meetings in Orange County and Los Angeles (pictured above). The meetings are an opportunity to start organizing for upcoming local negotiations to secure improved healthcare as soon as possible, using the $200 million in ongoing funding we successfully secured in this year’s state budget.

CFT members from both Los Rios College Federation of Teachers and San Jose/Evergreen Federation of Teachers also spoke out at their Board of Trustees meetings, urging their elected representatives to move quickly to improve healthcare for part-time faculty.

Thanks again to all who continue to organize! For more information on how you can get involved, contact your local union or check out CFT’s part-time faculty campaign page.

Urge Governor Newsom to increase the workload cap for part-time community college faculty

Please take a moment to urge Governor Newsom to sign AB 1856, which would formally increase the workload cap available to part-time faculty from 67% up to 85% of a full-time faculty workload in California’s community colleges. Under the current law, too many part-time faculty members are forced to work in multiple community college districts to piece together a full time schedule, hurting not only their ability to make a living, but their ability to participate in the campus community and be a resource to students.

Urge Speaker Pelosi to eliminate the WEP and GPO

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) substantially reduce or eliminate the EARNED Social Security benefits of millions of retired teachers and public employees who contributed to Social Security through other employment. Please take a moment to sign this AFT petition to Speaker Pelosi calling on Congress to eliminate the penalty hurting too many of our retired educators and public employees.

November election: We recommend a no vote on Prop 30, a deceptive Lyft-backed income tax

After careful review, we recommend a no vote on Prop 30, which would raise up to $5 billion by taxing personal incomes above $2 million an additional 1.75%. It would dedicate the revenue to zero-emission vehicle subsidies, zero-emission vehicle infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging stations, as well as wildfire suppression and prevention programs.

What’s the problem with Prop 30? The billions it would raise sidestep the state General Fund and Proposition 98, meaning that not a single dollar of this revenue would help fund public education or social services.