ACE Members,
Dues Forgiveness
ACE is an independent labor organization and non-profit. We only collect member dues needed to maintain our monthly operations, funds for pending legal actions, and strike fund. In August 2021 the Executive Board approved two months of dues forgiveness. As such, membership dues will not be deducted from June 30th (for full-time employees) and July 15th (for hourly employees) paychecks.
Currently I’m assembling documents for our annual independent audit. If you would like to take a look at the previous year’s report, it is available here:
https://acefhda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ACE-Audit-June-30-2020-and-2021-Final-Report.pdf
Annual Survey
Our initial annual survey has closed, but additional surveys will follow as we analyze the issues and solutions the membership would like us to pursue. Our negotiations team will be meeting soon to parse the data we’ve received. Thank you to all of those who’ve contributed feedback so far.
Patience and Understanding
To put it mildly, Human Resources is in a transition phase. I’ve introduced ACE to our newest Vice Chancellor and look forward to hearing the plans he has mentioned for improving operations. There are certainly vacancies that need to be filled before the department resumes to full capacity. The request for patience and understanding is reasonable at this time, but I recognize the delays are difficult to tolerate. Continue to reach out to ACE if there’s an urgent matter that you’ve not received an expected date for it to be addressed.
Summer Work Hours
The ACE summer work hours message you received on June 2nd was sent to administrators(AMA) and supervisors(Teamsters.) Please contact your steward or myself if you are given any direction that is counter to the guidance provided.
2022 Labor Notes Conference
Thursday, June 16th, through Sunday, June 19th, I will be attending this year’s Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, IL. I believe ACE will be a very popular organization when I describe it to those who are in attendance. We really are the true spirit of a union in action: member operated and solely focused on improving our own workplace under the direction of members. See more at https://labornotes.org/2022
COLA Agreement Approved
Last night the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the joint COLA agreement but it was not without apprehension on their part due to declining enrollment and budget concerns surrounding the Student Centered Funding Formula(SCFF) if Hold Harmless goes away. Regardless of what may come in the future ACE understands the effects of the high cost of living the in bay area and the need to compensate workers fairly for the value of their labor. By approving this item, trustees also align with the effort to provide competitive compensation.
Messages of gratitude can be submitted to the Board of Trustees using the “send an email” link on this page:
https://www.fhda.edu/_about-us/_board/board-member-profiles.html
I’ll be sending my own personal thanks – In my household we (the First Lady and I) depend on our regular paychecks to keep up with rising costs for necessities and unexpected expenses. The approved increase eases some financial stress when it comes to making ends meet month-to-month.
Take Care,
Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
https://acefhda.org | olsenscott@fhda.edu
650-949-7789 | M-F 8:00am-5:00pm