A fundamental element of CFA’s mission is our pledge to promote
anti-racism and social justice and supporting that commitment
through meaningful action. One important way that we pursue this
is by hosting educational workshops for our members that foster
an environment of deep, collaborative learning.
Next week, CFA activists will again elevate their calls for
CalPERS to stop investing in private prison operators CoreCivic
and GEO Group by attending and commenting at a meeting of its
Investment Committee on September 16th. This will mark
the fourth consecutive Board meeting that members will have
rallied at since CFA adopted a
resolution to actively engage CalPERS on the matter at our
89th Assembly in April. For the record, the pension
fund’s total investment in the companies amounts to just $11.4
million out of a total portfolio of $360 billion.
In a welcome development, the CSU Chancellor’s Office
announced last week its plan to provide immigration legal
services to students and employees at all 23 of its campuses.
Funding to support these services was first authorized in the
2018-19 state budget act but the impetus for this plan traces
back to legislation that CFA sponsored in 2017.
AB 21 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra created protections for
undocumented students, faculty, and staff in the CSU system, as
well as the state’s community colleges and also addresses their
access to financial aid, legal representation, and constitutional
right to due process. Following a focused legislative advocacy
campaign by CFA, Governor Jerry Brown
signed the bill into law, paving the way for these legal
services to become a reality.
Nearly 200 CFA members met in San Francisco on August 16 for the
2019 Fall Leadership Kickoff, during which participants worked
collaboratively to strategize on ways to strengthen CFA and
foster a sense of member unity, while deepening our connections
to issues and allies that build our power.
Faculty Say: Stop Investing Our Pensions in Migrant Detention
CFA members are CalPERS members and we have been mobilizing
at CalPERS board meetings this summer to demand that our
pensions not be invested in the private prison companies,
CoreCivic and GEO Group.
Lawmakers have reached a budget deal that reinvests state funding
in the California State University system, including funding that
will expand student access to the CSU and fund additional
tenure-line positions.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and faculty
activists are engaging in events, honoring the achievements and
contributions of their colleagues, and highlighting issues that
continue to impact the API community.
Both at the Fall Leadership Kickoff and at a recent meeting of
the CalPERS Investment Committee, CFA members proudly showed
their solidarity in calling on the pension system to stop
investing in private prison operators CoreCivic and GEO
Group. At the committee meeting, CFA Associate Vice
President Margarita Berta-Avila and others provided a series of
emotional and direct remarks to the assembled members.
On Tuesday, April 30, faculty and students were at the Capitol to
urge lawmakers to #FundTheCSU and support state budget
allocations that would strengthen the People’s University.
To learn more about CFA’s budget advocacy and sponsored
legislation, click
here.
CFA held a reception on Monday, April 29 honoring Senator Holly
Mitchell and Gov. Gavin Newsom for their efforts on behalf of
public higher education.
Both Newsom and Mitchell were at CFA Headquarters in Sacramento
to accept their awards during the reception, which also was
attended by numerous legislators, faculty, and students.
CFA hosted a rally in support of gubernatorial candidate Gavin
Newsom on Friday, Nov. 2 at San Diego State.
The event drew hundreds of students, faculty, and community
allies to the East Commons, where the crowd heard more about
Newsom’s commitment to protecting quality public higher
education.
BILL TO END STATE CONTRACTS FOR PRIVATE PRISONS HEADS TO
SENATE FLOOR:
AB 32 by Assemblymember Rob Bonta would prohibit the
California Department of Corrections from entering into contracts
with private, for profit prison operators on or after January 1,
2020.
Our current contract ends June 30, 2020. In
preparation for successful negotiations, the bargaining team
needs your input. We need to know what issues are important to
you so that we can focus our work at the bargaining table. We
also need to know that faculty are ready to come together and
fight, if necessary, to obtain a fair contract. CFA members will
receive an email next week with a link to a bargaining survey.
This survey is where CFA members communicate to the bargaining
team the issues that they think should be addressed in
bargaining.
CFA MEMBERS CELEBRATE LABOR DAY
ACROSS CALIFORNIA: Labor Day is an
annual reminder of the struggles that workers in the United
States have faced and overcome in the last several decades, as
well as a celebration of the power and influence of organized
labor. To commemorate this powerful legacy, CFA sisters and
brothers took to the streets to show their pride on September 2
by participating in several Labor Day events statewide. In
southern California, the CSULA chapter rallied with UTLA members
at the SEIU Kaiser worker rally in Hollywood, while the Long
Beach and Dominguez Hills chapters marched in the Labor Day
parade in Wilmington. Up in Chico, CFA members joined with other
CSU union siblings for a community breakfast with the North State
Labor Federation.
As we approach the end of the first year of a two-year
legislative cycle, a number of important CFA-sponsored and
-supported bills are moving forward, including
AB 331 (Medina) and
AB 1460 (Weber), the K-12 and CSU ethnic studies bills, both
of which were made into two year bills. We will continue our
advocacy for these important bills as they progress into next
year.
Bargaining is on the horizon in 2020, and all CFA campus chapters
will be kicking off bargaining with meetings set to begin next
week. Chapter meetings offer a chance to learn about the
bargaining process, how to get involved, and to discuss with CFA
leaders how all of us, working together, can help build power to
win a fair contract.
