Frustrated with stalled contract negotiations, 94 percent of the custodians, public safety officers and dispatchers at City College of San Francisco voted to authorize a strike on Thursday, according to SEIU Local 1021, which represents the school’s 400 or so staff members.
For similar reasons, AFT 2121, a union that represents more than 1,000 CCSF teachers, librarians and counselors, also launched a strike commitment card campaign this week. If negotiations with management break down, they will move for a strike authorization vote.
Both unions say they will “move forward according to the response from Chancellor David Martin and his team’s behavior in bargaining.” The latter, according to the unions, has refused to explain their proposals, share financial information in a timely manner or make “reasonable compromises.”
“We urge Chancellor Martin to show respect for the voices of educators and classified workers and embrace his role as a leader of City College and its vital place in the hearts of San Francisco,” reads a statement from both unions.
Martin has not yet responded to requests for comment.
In a statement, Alan Wong, president of the school’s board of trustees, an elected group that is charged with overseeing CCSF, said that “I am committed to getting the college administration and labor unions to come to a fair agreement that will balance good wages and benefits for our staff and the long-term financial sustainability of the college.”
Over 200 City College faculty and staff rallied at a parking lot next to the school’s Ocean campus. Photo by Yujie Zhou, Oct. 26, 2023. 
Over 200 City College faculty and staff rallied at a parking lot next to the school’s Ocean campus. Photo by Yujie Zhou, Oct. 26, 2023. 
City College of San Francisco. Photo by Yujie Zhou, Oct. 26, 2023.
At sunset, more than 200 City College faculty and staff rallied in a parking lot next to the school’s Ocean campus, where its board of trustees’ regular meeting was taking place.
“It’s time for the district to understand that we mean business,” said Justin Genevro, who works in the CCSF art department and is an SEIU shop steward.
The faculty’s prior contract expired in June 2021. Consequently, wages have been stagnant for three years — in some cases, they’ve even decreased. This has made retention and recruitment difficult, according to union reps. The district has proposed a roughly nine percent salary increase over the next three years. The union wants that, too, but also asks the district to share “the cost of living adjustment it has received from the state with faculty,” which amounts to a four percent increase next year.
According to AFT 2121 secretary Robin Pugh, faculty salaries at City College are now near the bottom of “Bay 10,” which consists of 10 Bay Area community colleges. “Most faculty at City College would be, like, eighth or ninth out of 10th in the Bay 10 in terms of their salaries,” she said.
The other sticking point is “severe understaffing.” One of the most important sources for trained nurses in the Bay Area, CCSF’s Registered Nursing Department, for example, has cut enrollment by more than 30 percent due to understaffing. Meanwhile, 3,926 students sat on waitlists for classes prior to the fall semester, according to AFT 2121.
The staff union, whose contract expired in June 2022 and started bargaining this March, faces a similar situation. According to data from SEIU 1021, CCSF custodians, public safety officers and dispatchers are understaffed by 20 percent, 40 percent and 60 percent, respectively.
Reps from both unions said they are frustrated by management negotiators claiming they are not empowered to make decisions. “How the hell are you at the bargaining table if you don’t have no authority? What are you doing? Makes no sense, right?” said Maria Salazar-Colón, president of SEIU 1021’s CCSF chapter. The staff union’s next bargaining session will be held next week.
“Why would you stonewall your two largest labor groups when you actually have the money?” asked Pugh. AFT 2121 and SEIU 1021 represent the vast majority of CCSF workers, and are among the five unions in which CCSF employees participate.
In 2021, CCSF threatened to lay off nearly 200 full-time faculty members, which would have seriously affected the school’s English as a Second Language program, on which thousands of immigrants rely to gain citizenship or find better jobs. The cuts didn’t materialize after concessions from the union.
“We have award-winning educational programs, but they are being threatened by this kind of constant cutting of programs, cutting of staffing and this vision of a smaller college,” said Pugh. “The college, right now, is about 40 percent of the size that it was 10 years ago.”
“We’re supposed to not get a raise this year, again,” said Patricia Castillo, a 13-year counselor at City College, who said the salary of her entry-level colleague with a master’s degree can start at $60,000.
“It’s not just jobs. It’s an impact on our entire community,” she said. “We’re also protecting our community. We’re the shield of them.”
For CCSF, it has been losing students for years now. However, it is not the only college experiencing this problem. SF has been losing students for its high schools as well for a few years now. This is due to the fact less people are having kids in the city, or they are leaving it. Also, California is losing its population as more people are exiting the state.
CCSF had laid off a large number of employees from it faculty and non-faculty areas due to poor professional financial management issues. It also closed its 3 remote sites that are no longer used. It has 5 other remote sites in use.
Its Board of Trustees, almost similar to Board of Supervisors, has to be more accountable for CCSF. The problem is the fact it is not, and there is a lot of infighting due to political factions within it.
CCSF has a history of poor governance and poor management of its finances. It needs to reform its governance, business structure, and unions by focusing on its core customers–the students. Building more buildings and they will come no longer works. What works is determining what the customers want and teach what they want, which maybe in person or online.
CCSF future projected downward trend for student enrollment will continue in the future, which is along the lines of some other community colleges. Given this fact there must reforms made to continue for its existence. However, much of this depends on its shared governance from the BOTs and the Unions, which don’t trust each other.
It doesn’t matter which society you live in, Communist or capitalist society, not everyone does the same jobs, makes the same income and shares the same responsibilities.
A few Years ago Climate Action Now raised 2 million dollars for sustainable rain gardens and the school just turned it down. Any employer who has enough money to turn away 2 million has enough money to give their workers a raise.
“The contraction didn’t materialize after concessions from the union.” The contraction didn’t happen in 2021 (we took pay cuts), but it did happen in Spring 2022 to 40+ faculty and hundreds of part-timers. We have never recovered and students continue to suffer due to lack of instructors to reach the classes they need to graduate.
In addition, CCSF has lost many positions over the years due to people leaving/retiring and not being replaced. We no longer run the number of facilities we used to. Still, the staffing is inadequate to meet the needs of students.
Good. Let them walk around without pay for a while. They’re nothing but a drain on the city finances as it is.
City College doesn’t have the enrollment to support the number of faculty it has, and it has never had any sense of fiscal responsibility. Fewer students should equal fewer teachers.
CCSF has just 30% of the students it had in 2011, and just over half the students it had in 2016.
It’s unrealistic to expect staffing to be at the same levels.
(FYI this could be included in future article on this topic.)
https://www.kqed.org/news/11908747/california-community-colleges-are-getting-millions-to-boost-enrollment-is-it-working
Why does Mission Local block comments that are remotely critical of their reporting? The reporting in the article on the Clooney’s ATM theft was not at all clear, regarding the details of what happened. Yet my comment was blocked.
“We are for free speech…unless you try to point out how poorly some of our articles are written. That’s not allowed! Every article is great and should be praised!!”
Kris —
I don’t recall your comment and we’re all at the mercy of the computers and SPAM filters that run this system. But this and every publication has no obligation to publish comments that are rude or unproductive or, for lack of a better word, add no value to the conversation.
Your free speech argument is off base; this is not the public square. You are free to voice your opinions on a street corner or public park, but if you were to wander into a private business, you could be asked to leave. This is no different. That’s how the First Amendment works.
Finally, we publish plenty of critical comments. But, in life, it helps to be civil, especially if you expect to be treated with civility. Good-faith criticism will be met with good-faith replies and introspection. Sanctimonious behavior will not.
Good luck with things,
JE