Semester in Review

Dear Unit 3, 

On three, take a deep breath. One… two… three!

The end of instruction has come, finals week is wrapping up. The grading pile might be high and the advising load heavy despite the semester being over, but you made it. We made it. 

At the outset of the semester, YOUR SACRAMENTO CHAPTER has been working to reconnect to better inform you about our union’s work. One major way we have been attempting to better our connections is by creating this email newsletter and corresponding blog on our chapter website. 

In our last blog of the semester we bring you back to the beginning of the term and through to the end – refreshing you on just how much your union is working for the betterment of faculty, librarian, coaches, and counselors on campus, at the bargaining table, and in the community, building friendships while we support each other through the ups and downs. Here is a Semester in Review to remind you of why we are CFA and how we build strength in our unity! 

Campus Work:

• Our work led to the layoff notice being rescinded! (Over Summer, but still… yay!)
• We held a campus-wide Academic Freedom Open Discussion Session. What came out of the meeting was the Five Things to Know about Academic Freedom.
• We are actively supporting the library – when cuts almost $500,000 in cuts were proposed, we said, “NO!! Enough with the cuts!” – Keep an eye out for more that needs to be done on this front. Expect outreach starting the Spring Semester.
• We strengthened our College Advocates program. Not an advocate, yet? Join! Do you feel like you are not being heard? Join! It’s helpful, gives you a voice in your department, and a voice in your union – Join! Not sure what a College Advocate does? Read more here
• We can’t really ever talk about it in too much detail because of privacy, but we are ALWAYS working to support Faculty Rights Issues, and fighting back against managerial decisions that impact our ability to perform our job. 

Bargaining Work:

• We have broken the stalemate in bargaining and have met with management several times. Our proposals are developed, meaningful, and worthy of our fight! Their offer was equivalent to two scopes – “you want that in a cup or a cone?” (like we’ll get that option, lol)
• Keep an eye open for ways in which your membership can allow you access to bargaining caucuses, and for membership-wide Town Halls hosted by the statewide Bargaining Team post-bargaining session. Want to know where we are at current – check this out our MOST RECENT post on bargaining !

Community Building:  

• Improving our Communicating as a chapter – Thanks for reading and following us on socials!! Did you know we’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), and Bluesky?
• Held community with our sibling unions during the Sac Central Labor Council’s Labor Day Picnic. 
• We built community at our Welcome Back Social to kick off the semester!
• Hey Lecturers! We hosted 3 different Lecturer’s Council Meetings. These are just for you, did you go???
• We heard a need for more Family Friendly Events where folks could bring their littles, so this fall we hosted a bunch of social events like attending Hornet Athletic events, the CSUS Choral concert, and presented an altar for the Día de los Muertos Celebration.
• Members of our executive board held weekly office hours for any Unit 3 member to drop in. We were able to answer questions, build relationships, and strengthen our union! You should think about dropping by next semester – Spring Office Hours will be released soon! 

YOUR UNION IS YOU

This is a lot of work right!? Which events did you attend? Which events in the list did you know about but just weren’t able to make it? Which events did you not even realize happened? What types of events do you want to see in the future? Let us know!

The Communication Committee has enjoyed bringing the month’s news front and center, into one location, and in just a couple of emails a month – no longer blasting your email inboxes with multiple notices each week! This has been the start of something good. And we all look forward to how this will grow and change in the coming semesters. If you have any suggestions, questions, or want to be a part of the communications team (seriously, you could help spread the word!), just reach out Coms_Sac@calfac.org!

Cheers, to the end of the semester. Happy holidays and have a relaxing and restful break! The warmth of spring will bring the next rounds of work – we will need all the energy we can get!

All our best, sincerely, 

The Communications Committee & Sacramento Chapter Executive Board

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