Food workers at San Diego City College wore their AFT t-shirts in solidarity with striking UC employees and in protest against state budget cuts to public education on September 24.

September 24, statewide—CFT members in K-12 and community college locals across California wore union t-shirts and handed flyers to the public to raise awareness about the impact of state budget cuts on all levels of public education and necessary social services.  In the University of California, faculty, staff and students rallied, held teach-ins, and in some cases (University Professional and Technical Employees/CWA) walked off the job, supported by students outraged at tuition increases and faculty whose role in shared governance of the institution is eroding. More than $15 billion in program reductions over the past two years are now wreaking havoc on our ability to deliver quality education to students in K-12, community colleges, and CSU and UC.

The most outrageous thing is that these cuts did not have to happen.  They were not inevitable.  They were a consequence of choices made by the governor and Legislature.  The most recent data shows that there has been a massive redistribution of wealth in the country, and in the state, over the past few decades, to people who were already the wealthiest in our society.  The top one percent of wealth holders (average income:  $1.6 million/year) owns more than one third of the wealth today, and their tax rates are far lower than they used to be.  Fair tax policies that address this shift in wealth would return California's promise of free, quality education for all, and keep fire stations and health clinics open.

Over the next couple of years, the CFT will be working closely with other unions and community organizations in a Fight for California's Future.  We will educate ourselves and the public about how the state's broken budget process can be fixed, and build a campaign to reverse the damage.  If enough of us care, we can reduce the state's undemocratic requirement for two thirds of the Legislature to vote for a new tax, to a simple majority.  We can overturn the same undemocratic requirement for two thirds of the Legislature to pass a state budget, which has put power into the hands of ideologues who represent just over a third of the Legislature, and whose real interests are on behalf of the top one percent of wealth holders.

It's time to fight back.  It's time to Fight for California's Future.

• September 24 flyer for members
• September 24 flyer for the public
• Background information and materials on the state budget crisis
• Information on the UC walkout and demonstrations

September 17—Laura Rico (left) is president of the ABC Federation of Teachers in southern California.  She is also a vice-president of the national AFL-CIO, the country's largest labor federation, which met in convention this week in Pittsburgh.  Randi Weingarten (right), national AFT president, also participated in the convention, which featured officer elections and set policy for the federation for the coming two years.  Among the highlights:  election of Rich Trumka as president, Arlene Holt Baker as Executive Vice President, and Liz Schuler as Secretary-Treasurer; passage of resolutions supporting the "public option" in national health care legislation as well as the ultimate goal of a single payer health care system; and a speech by President Barack Obama. The federation also welcomed UNITE HERE, a union representing hotel and restaurant workers, back into the AFL-CIO.  Click here for more on the convention.

May 8 — The California Federation of Teachers, AFT/AFL-CIO yesterday filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court to force the state to repay nearly $12 billion slashed from the K-14 public education budget over the past two years.  The CFT was joined by Service Employees International Union Local 99 in the lawsuit, which seeks to enforce voter-approved Proposition 98 minimum funding guarantees.  

The CFT filed the suit following an announcement by Governor Schwarzenegger threatening to cut another $3.6 billion from the education budget. The plaintiffs said that going to court to restore school funding is a better option than passing Propositions 1A and 1B in the May 19 Special Election.