ACE Members,

Staff Development Leave
Article 10.13 of our agreement covers SDL in detail (LINK) but the due date for applications is quickly approaching. If you are planning a leave during 2023 you have until December 15th at 5 pm to submit your form (with or without required signatures.) Unsigned applications must have all required signatures collected by January 31st at 5 pm.

  • What is SDL? Leave from 1 to 10 months at 85% pay to pursue job-related education, upskilling, or retraining for a different career.
  • Who’s eligible? Those who’ve completed 7 years of service in the District before their leave is scheduled to begin or since their prior SDL.
  • Can I use Education Assistance? Yes. It can be used for courses taken during your leave, but those courses may not be used toward a Professional Growth Award.
  • What if I don’t use Education Assistance? Course hours from your leave (where you weren’t reimbursed) can be used toward PGA Section 1 hours.
  • Can I use Travel and Conference funds while on SDL? Yes.
  • You must agree in writing to render, upon return from your leave, a minimum of two months of service to the district for each month of staff development leave.
  • 10 leaves are approved by the Board of Trustees at the February Board Meeting and announced by March 1st of every year.

SDL is a tremendous benefit that ACE has negotiated for and we highly encourage you to utilize it.

Application for Classified Staff Development Leave (LINK)

If your supervisor/manager refuses to sign the application, please contact your ACE Chief Steward.

California Community Colleges Vision Resource Center
Have you logged onto the VRC lately? (LINK) You might be surprised to find you already have a balance of hours under the “Learner Home” section. Why not complete a few more trainings toward your next Professional Growth Award? Trainings are pensionable under section 1B. They do not have to be completed in a single sitting/session.

The VRC can also be found within MyPortal with Apps, titled as Employee Training.

Keep an eye out for future trainings offered by @Claudia Guzman from De Anza’s Office of Professional Development (LINK.)

Related Upcoming Workshops
California Community Colleges Vision Resource Center
Online: Thursday, December 8th, 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Professional Growth Award / Education Assistance
Online: Thursday, December 1st, 1:00 – 2:00 pm

Professional Growth Award / Education Assistance
Online: Wednesday, December 7th, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Staff Development Leave Application Support
Online: Monday, December 5th, 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Register via Google form (LINK)

Dues Forgiveness – December 2022
ACE member dues will not be charged as part of our December 2022 paychecks. This has been confirmed with Payroll. Thank you to those who checked their November paystubs and sent messages when they saw forgiveness was not applied in November.

  • Always check you paystub! We continue to provide representation for members who’ve received notices regarding alleged overpayments. Contact payroll via email if you feel you’ve been overpaid. Get a response in writing or summarize the conversation to document the response for future reference.
    • The district can go back up to three years to recover “a gift of public funds.”

Our overall rate of .95% or .0095 is being reviewed by a committee with representation from each site. Thank you to @Anthony Caceres, @Erika Flores, @Thomas Marks, and @Logan Murray for serving as a group which will provide a post-pandemic rate recommendation that supports our organization going forward. The last time we took a close look at our dues rate was in 2018 following the Supreme Court’s Janus decision which eliminated fair share fee payers. During that time while looking at my own paystub I learned a few things:

  • PGA Awards are not subject to union dues.
  • Longevity Awards are not subject to union dues.
  • Overtime is not subject to union dues.
  • Dues forgiveness lowers our effective dues rate to .79% with two months of forgiveness (10 out of 12 months.)

As part of a survey in 2019, 75% of the membership voted to maintain a percentage rate based formula and a flat rate proposal was found to be unfavorable by 60% of the membership. (These were two separate questions.)

Holiday Gathering @ De Anza’s Fireside Room
Please join us for hot chocolate, hot cider, oatmeal cookies and cake.
Thursday, December 15th, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
More details will be provided in an upcoming calendar invite.

Read the following article if you have a minute: “Every Union Contract Right Now Should Be the Best Ever” (Labor Notes) (LINK)

We could have been included in it. The 5.07% and 5.56% COLA increases along with the classification & compensation study were tremendous achievements that contribute towards making ACE the best ever. We continue to uphold the agreement, defend the contract, negotiate benefits, and create safe working conditions. Thank you for the active participation from all members, stewards, negotiators, executive board members, and our attorneys.

In Solidarity,

Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
https://acefhda.org | olsenscott@fhda.edu
650-949-7789 | M-F 8:00am-5:00pm