Topic: Union Governance
Ben Rust Award: Dennis Kelly, United Educators of San Francisco
Convention 2018
United Educators of San Francisco Executive Vice President Susan Solomon started her speech at the Ben Rust Award luncheon by talking about some of the things that were happening 50 years ago – the Vietnam War dragging on and Martin Luther King getting assassinated while supporting striking garbage workers.
Floor debate: Delegates take decisive action
Pass resolutions on part-time faculty workload, McTeacher Nights, pesticide use, charter teacher retirement
About 400 delegates discussed resolutions on a broad range of policy issues; heard from the law school dean at UC Berkeley, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Tony Thurmond, the CFT-endorsed candidate for superintendent of public instruction; joined thousands to rally and march for safer schools and common sense gun control; learned a whole lot about Janus v. AFSCME, a Supreme Court case that could effectively turn the public sector into a “right to work” zone; and heard from a teacher in West Virginia where they succeeded in getting a 5 percent raise for all public employees.
New CCE president: Meet Luukia Smith
I’m Luukia Smith and I’m an accounting technician at El Camino College, where I have worked as a classified employee for 30 years. For more than half that time I also led the El Camino Classified Employees, AFT Local 6142, but stepped down earlier this year after I was elected to head the CFT Council of Classified Employees.
My family is from Hawaii. I love the laid-back island culture, and my leadership style is pretty informal, but “laid back” and “informal” do not mean I’m a pushover. Far from it.
CFT Convention 2017 in summary: Organize. Resist.
The 75th Annual California Federation of Teachers Convention, held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Sacramento, welcomed hundreds of members and memorable speakers eager to combat the destructive and oppressive policies of the Donald Trump Administration. The fact that the first day of the convention fell on Cesar Chavez Day was fitting considering the theme of the convention: Organize. Resist.
The convention was also highlighted by biennial elections, with current leadership receiving overwhelming support for another term.
State of the Union 2017
Delivered by CFT President Joshua Pechthalt on April 1, 2017
Sisters and brothers, members of the CFT. It is always great to be at our convention, to see friends, to think about the year gone as we prepare for the challenges ahead.
And boy do we face some tough challenges.
The election of Donald Trump jeopardizes the progressive gains of the last 80 years. Trump also threatens, almost daily, the basic sense of ethics, civic mindedness and fairness, valued across the political spectrum.
State of the Union 2016
Delivered by CFT President Joshua Pechthalt on March 18, 2016
The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck powerfully told the story of one family’s challenge to survive the devastation of the Great Depression of the 1930s. It’s a story that continues to resonate eighty years later. As they begin their journey to California, the Joad family asks Reverend Casey, who in the film version is played brilliantly by the great American actor John Carradine, if he would like to join them.
CFT Convention 2016: Activate Labor for Justice
The 74th annual CFT convention, held in San Francisco and attended by nearly 700 delegates and guests, got off with a bang two hours after the convention began on Friday morning, March 11. That’s when about half the convention delegates piled outside into a light rain and demonstrated in support of affordable, quality public education and the struggle of City College of San Francisco faculty for a decent contract in the face of its accreditation crisis.
Miles Myers, 1931–2015
Teacher, union activist, author, and former CFT President Miles Myers died December 15, 2015, from complications related to heart disease. Over six decades, Miles devoted his career to improving educational standards and the conditions for teaching and learning in public education.
Retirees! CFT welcomes your participation in the new Council of Retired Members
CFT has formed a new division welcoming retiree participation and action, the Council of Retired Members. It is the first constitutional division the union has added in several decades. The Council elected its first officers at CFT Convention on March 20.
State of the Union 2015
Delivered by CFT President Joshua Pechthalt on March 21, 2015
Good morning CFT members, guests and staff, I want to thank all of you for taking time to help make the CFT a strong, vibrant and progressive voice in the California labor movement. It is your activism and your commitment to our union that makes this organization such an important voice for social justice, for our members and for our students.
AFT Convention forms Part-Time Caucus
Part-time and contingent faculty throughout the United States now have a stronger voice in our national union with the formation of a Part-Time Caucus at the AFT Convention in July.
Several California part-timers are helping shape this tool to influence AFT priorities and connect part-timers nationwide.
Part-time-friendly resolutions passed at CFT Convention
At the CFT Convention in March, the full body of delegates passed three important resolutions that affect part-time faculty.
CFT Convention delegates working to “Reclaim the Promise”
A recap of Convention 2014
The Reverend William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, and leader of the growing “Moral Monday” movement contesting his state’s descent into the nineteenth century at the hands of its Tea Party government, provided a parable to the 600 elected delegates in the waning hours of the California Federation of Teachers’ 72nd annual convention, held in Manhattan Beach over the March 21-23 weekend.
Union supports paths to full-time status for adjuncts
Delegates to the annual CFT Convention passed two resolutions submitted by the CFT Part-Time Committee calling for the union to pursue legislation that would help part-time faculty secure full-time employment.
Raoul Teilhet, 1933–2013
Raoul Teilhet, a Pasadena high school history teacher who believed collective bargaining offered the path to dignity and respect for public school employees before laws existed allowing it, and served as president of the California Federation of Teachers in successful pursuit of that goal, died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on June 5, 2013, in Los Angeles. He was 79.
Meet leaders of the CFT Council of Classified Employees
Paula Phillips is president of the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees. After earning a degree in human resource management and working in the private sector, she came to Berkeley Unified as an administrative assistant to the Personnel Commission. She saw the district grading internal job candidates harder than external applicants and didn’t think it was fair.
CFT Convention delegates elect leadership slate
Speakers laud union’s accomplishments and inspire future campaigns
Midway through this year’s state convention, CFT President Josh Pechthalt and Secretary Treasurer Jeff Freitas ran unopposed as part of a slate called QES-Quality Education Slate and the entire slate was elected by acclamation.