http://themilitant.com/2016/8020/802032.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 20 May 23, 2016
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Militant/Eric Simpson
Rally in downtown San Francisco April 27 supporting one-day strike by
American Federation of Teachers members at City College of San Francisco
against cuts and for pay increase.
Help the Militant cover labor struggles around
the world!
This column gives a voice to those engaged in battle and building
solidarity today — including striking Verizon workers, Steelworkers
opposing concessions, construction workers demanding safe conditions and
workers fighting for $15 and a union. I invite those involved in
workers’ battles to contact me at 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York,
NY 10018; or (212) 244-4899; or themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll work together
to ensure your story is told.
— Maggie Trowe
San Francisco college teachers win support in one-day strike
SAN FRANCISCO — Members of the American Federation of Teachers Local
2121 at City College of San Francisco carried out a one-day strike April
27 demanding higher wages. While the cost of living has skyrocketed
here, teachers’ pay is currently 3.5 percent below 2007 levels, Local
President Tim Killikelly told CBS News.
Since 2012 the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
has called into question the community college’s compliance with
educational standards. The school administration was replaced with a
“special trustee with extraordinary powers” in 2013, and the commission
announced it would take away the college’s accreditation, effectively
closing it. A judge blocked that move, but the crisis has taken a major
toll.
“The Accrediting Commission told the administration they shouldn’t give
faculty any raise above COLA [cost of living]. It should not be
influencing negotiations,” Wendy Kaufmyn, an engineering instructor on
the union negotiating team, told the Militant on the picket line. Other
unions helped strengthen the picket lines, including the Teamsters,
United Food and Commercial Workers, the Service Employees International
Union and the California Nurses Association.
School administrators plan to cut the number of classes by 26 percent
over the next six years. “We want to keep City College open, accessible
and affordable for all,” Kaufmyn said.
The college chancellor called off classes and locked facilities the day
of the strike. Picket signs were hung across the steps leading up to the
main building.
“I’m out here for the teachers, as a student and as an immigrant,” said
Esther Wu, 21, at a midday rally downtown. “I started English classes
here when I came to the U.S. two years ago. That’s very important for
newcomers. But the administration wants to cut those classes.” The
English as a Second Language faculty put out a flyer in Chinese, Arabic,
Russian and Vietnamese explaining the issues in the strike.
Zhenye Pan, who works at the San Francisco Soup Company with Wu, was on
the picket line. He is a member of the college Associated Students
Council, which helped organize to bring students to the picket lines. Wu
is part of the fight for $15 an hour. “If they increase wages, they need
to keep the hours the same,” Pan told the Militant. “They’ve cut me down
to two days a week from three” since the San Francisco minimum wage rose
to $12.25 a year ago.
Enrollment has declined since the “accreditation crisis” raised doubts
about the college’s future, and classes have been cut. “The crisis has
scared students away,” Kaufmyn said.
— Eric Simpson
Related articles:
Strikers solid against Verizon union busting
Solidarity pickets held across U.S.
Rail workers respond to frame-up in Quebec disaster
Teamsters expand strikes against US Foods
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