City College of San Francisco faculty and staff rallied at the college's monthly board of trustee meeting Thursday to sway elected officials to hear their demands over stagnant wages and understaffing.
Members of American Federation of Teachers 2121, the faculty's labor union, and Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents staff members such as janitors, have been at the bargaining table for months. The nearly 300 people gathered outside the meeting room on the college's flagship campus demonstrated the heights of discontent.
"They've basically offered us a pay cut," Megan Sweeney, a member of the AFT 2121 bargaining team said of the pay amounts offered versus the Bay Area's rising cost of living.
As drums beat and horns sounded, signs were marched around the multi use building parking lot with phrases such as "Chancellor Martin F-," "Overworked and Underpaid" and "You can't put Students first if you put Teachers last."
The labor contract negotiations now involve the most recent interim chancellor having resigned, and unfair labor practices having been filed with the Public Employee Relations Board against the trustees. AFT 2121 has filed another ULP, after winning one last semester in regards to trustees' negotiating tactics.
"Even a legal finding does not seem to have changed their approach," AFT 2121 said in a news release prior to the rally.
SEIU 1021 members representing the college's service workers campaigned and signs and messages were painted on banners and hung on the building. Ninety-four percent of the custodians, public safety officers and dispatchers voted to authorize a strike on Thursday.
A statement was released late in the day from CCSF board president Alan Wong acknowledging the teachers' work and the rising cost of living in the Bay Area.
"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."
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget Committee is set to examine the college's Free City program, the San Francisco Examiner reported.
