Author: ACE

ACE Members,

After watching the evening news last week I found myself thinking back to a speech Stacy Davis Gates gave during the 2022 Labor Notes Conference – you can listen to it via YouTube (LINK). The six-minute speech succinctly recognized the transformative power we have together and examples of the issues we have that go beyond the workplace. Here’s a quote from it:

“Workers suffer from police brutality. Workers have their children’s schools closed down. Workers are facing eviction because housing is unaffordable. Workers are suffering under unfair immigration policies. Workers are dying because we refuse to include “they” instead of “he/him” and “she/her.” Workers are everyone who needs an advocate.”

The heartbreaking violence we continue to witness is intolerable, not inevitable. If it doesn’t sit right with you, stand up by attending a community demonstration, supporting organizations pushing for change, contacting your elected representatives, and by activating members within our union to stand together.

“Labor is plural, we speak in “we” and “us”. Labor is action, because it doesn’t mean anything until we do a thing. Labor is transformative, we change all things.”

GoFundMe Stop AAPI Hate (LINK)
GoFundMe for Half Moon Bay Farmworkers (LINK)
            Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (LINK)
GoFundMe for Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims (LINK)
            Resources for Monterey Park Victims and Community Members (LINK)
GoFundMe for Tyre Nichols Memorial (LINK)
GoFundMe for Keenan Anderson Memorial (LINK)
GoFundMe for Zirl Wilson Jr Medical Costs (LINK)
Who Are My (Elected) Representatives? (LINK)

Needed – Board Member for Foothill
Thank you to Catalina Rodriguez for serving as a board member during 2022 👏 We are grateful for her time but are now in search of someone to appoint to complete her term which runs through Dec 31^st of this year. Please email @Phuong Tran or @Scott Olsen if you are interested in serving as a board member for Foothill. Duties per our constitution:

E. General Duties of the Board Members at Large
There are four (4) board members at large nominated from and elected by the general membership. The board members at large shall:
1) Ensure that the interests and directives of the general membership are represented at board meetings.
2) Serve on a college or district committee pertinent to ACE business and report back to the Board.
3) Attend the classified senate meeting at each location…

Union Meeting and Merch Survey
How should site meetings be held? When should they occur?
Should we have ACE union merch?

Please answer those questions via this survey (LINK Removed – Members Only).

9.2.5 Accumulated Vacation Leave
…
Workers may accumulate a maximum of two years of accrued vacation. When the accumulated vacation balance exceeds these limits, a worker ceases to earn vacation until such time as the vacation balance is reduced below the maximum earnable…

A worker will be notified by a notice on his/her(their) paycheck when he/she(their) is within two pay periods of reaching his/her(their) maximum vacation accrual for two years. If the worker is within two pay periods of reaching his/her(their) maximum accrual of vacation, he/she(they) will meet with the supervising manager to schedule vacation so that the worker does not lose any vacation to which he/she(they) is otherwise entitled.

To calculate your accrued vacation limit look at your current paystub to see the number of vacation hours you earned, multiply them by the number of months you work during the year, and multiply that by two.

E.g. I earned 16 hours of VAC on my current paystub and I work 12 months per year. 16 x 12 x 2 = 384 hour limit.

If I were near the limit, I would need to take at least 16 hours(how much I earn per month) as vacation before the end of the upcoming pay period. Your limit may be different than mine (it’s admittedly confusing.) Contact a steward if you are near your limit and having difficulty scheduling vacation time with your supervisor/manager/administrator.

In Solidarity,

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

ACE Members,

President’s Message
Looking back at 2022 the impact ACE has had on our livelihoods has been tremendous. Negotiated items from previous years all were paid out: the remote work stipend, classification & compensation study, 5.07% FY21-22 COLA and 5.56% FY22-23 COLA. All provide relief from recent inflation and help us make ends meet in a region with a notoriously high cost of living. Competitive wages acknowledge our valued contribution toward achieving the mission of the district. Thank you to our negotiations teams throughout the years who have worked toward securing these advances 👏 Koff & Associates has also completed reviewing the last remaining classification appeals and affected members have been provided with the final reports.

ACE’s continued effort to maintain access to quality affordable healthcare options is something that has benefited my own family immeasurably throughout my 15 year career with the district. At this time last year I was preparing to have my first outpatient surgery. It went successfully and I recovered without paying outrageous out of pocket costs. In prior years my wife experienced a long emergency hospital stay, where personal necessity leave and sick leave agreement sections allowed me to be by her side. She recovered, later had surgery, and recovered again. To this day my father continues to have access to district health care plans following the passing of my mother, who was a division administrative assistant. Our union contract includes language that allowed him the choice to retain medical coverage.

At a summer workplace event someone asked me, “do you ever stop talking about union stuff?” I can’t recall exactly how I had answered, but honestly the trajectory of my entire life and that of my family would be completely different without our union, so I have a deep appreciation for negotiations, the agreement, and the people who’ve contributed toward crafting all of the protections and benefits we enjoy. When responding to member employment issues, I do so with the awareness that decisions impact entire households and beyond. As president, ACE is always on my mind and its importance is paramount.

De Anza Creative Arts
The college community sent a strong message at yesterday’s collegewide Measure G forum by stressing that future plans should identify a permanent space for Creative Arts that does not diminish its ability to serve students. Recordings of the session are not available. Slides presented can be downloaded from the Measure G De Anza site (LINK) – the “Mega Project” begins to be described on page ten.

No final decision has been made on where A Quad will be relocated once it and the Flint Center are demolished. It’s been tentatively proposed to spend bond dollars to renovate L Quad as a temporary swing space but it would leave Creative Arts floating there without funding for a permanent home.

Student needs remain at the forefront of planning, but more can be done to stress the importance of a quality space for arts programs and services. Please consider attending the upcoming Board of Trustees meeting in person at 6:00 pm on Monday, December 12^th:

Foothill-De Anza Community College District – Board of Trustees Meeting
12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
District Office Building (D700), Board Room (101)

Voicing a concern during the time allotted for “public comment” is extremely impactful on decision making. As a colleague put it, “we are losing campus buildings while at the same time building ‘event centers’ that do not support students and potentially granting space to outside health services buildings.” If you also don’t feel this is right, join us on Monday night to speak up.

Member Information & New Hire Orientations
ACE has received updated and accurate member information that meets all of the criteria described in California Government Code § 3558 (LINK.) Human Resources staff has also been regularly providing contact information for new hires and including an ACE representative at new hire orientations. As such we will be dropping our complaint with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB.)

For our organization to operate effectively it is important that we know who is eligible to become a member and be able to communicate the benefits of supporting ACE. Thank you to the staff involved with assembling these reports. If you have a minute, please update your own personal information within MyPortal, under “My Profile.”

In addition we will also be dropping our grievance and unfair labor practice after the district met with us to discuss the impact of the masking policy change at the beginning of the quarter.

TEA Lawsuit & Student Workers
One of the remaining legal actions we still have outstanding is our lawsuit against the district for violating education Code § 88003 (LINK), which covers the situations when hiring temporary employees is appropriate:

1. as a “substitute employee,” while an employee is temporarily absent from duty or there is a vacancy due to hiring.
2. as a “short-term employee,” to work on a project not needed on a continuing basis.

We have been unable to get information from human resources which demonstrates temporary employees are being used appropriately.

Why is this important?
If ACE didn’t take action, what would stop entire departments from being staffed with temporary employees who aren’t covered by our agreement, receive lower wages, and lack health benefits?

Also within 88003 is item (e) “Employment of either full-time or part-time students in a college work-study program or in a work experience education program shall not result in the displacement of classified personnel or impair existing contracts for services.”

Contact @Scott Olsen if you’ve seen a temporary employee or student worker who is being used in place of offering a benefitted ACE position.

When ACE was established it was with the understanding that legal representation can be the best means to push for enforcing workplace rules. The bulk of our dues go toward our attorneys and they do a phenomenal job of representing us.

2022 New ACE Members
@Megan Agustin Office Assistant • Director (DA)
@Jessica Alarcon Coordinator, Assistive Tech • Disability Resource Center (FH)
@Trizha Loren Aquino Library Technician • Library (FH)
@Sheherazade Arasnia Admin Assistant, Senior • Language Arts Division Office (FH)
@Marybell Arebalo Child Dev Center Teacher • Child Development Center (DA)
@Christian Bonner Laboratory Tech, Ceramics • Ceramics (DA)
@Jared Camacho Ramirez Administrative Assistant I • EOPS DA (DA)
@Shahram Chaichian Client Systems Technician • FH-Technical Services (CS)
@Crystal Chen Admin Assistant, Senior • Kinesiology & Athletics Div Ofc (FH)
@Peter Chow Enrollment Svcs Specialist II • Admissions & Records (FH)
@Alex Collins Admin Assistant, Senior • Business & Social Sciences Div Ofc (FH)
@Vinh Diep Application Support Analyst I • Applications Systems (CS)
@Sharon Garcia-Vega Admin Assistant, Senior • Science (FH)
@Holly Hawkinson Financial Aid Specialist • Financial Aid (FH)
@Pablo Hernandez Lopez Coord, Instruct Supt, Disc • Student Success Center (DA)
@Shane Jones Coord, Facilities & Equipment • Kinesiology & Athletics Div Ofc (FH)
@Michelle Lapitan Coordinator, DSPS • Disability Resource Center (FH)
@Di Liu Coord, Computer Laboratory • Computer Info Sys-Genl (DA)
@Erika Martinez Meraz Nurse Practitioner • Health Services-DA (DA)
@Amanda McCumbee Administrative Assistant I • Counseling (FH)
@Bob Paredes Laboratory Asst, Auto Tech • Automotive Technology (DA)
@Joselyn Perez Student Success Specialist • FH-Adult Education Block Grant (FH)
@Jeremy Peters Library Technician • Library (FH)
@Shaila Ramos Serna Program Coordinator I • VIDA (DA)
@Vanessa Santillan-Nieto Program Coordinator I • Teaching & Learning Center (FH)
@Patrick Satana Client Systems Technician • FH-Technical Services (CS)
@Sonia Sanchez Santoyo Program Coordinator II • Student Affairs (FH)
@Jaclyn Su Administrative Assistant I • F-1 Admissions-DA (DA)
@Nita Thompson Mobility Assistant Driver • DSPS-General (DA)
@Sarah Uribe Police Dispatcher • District Police (CS)
@James Wu Application Supt Analyst, Sr • Operations & Systems (CS)
@Joey Zhou Payroll Technician • Payroll Services (CS)

Welcome to ACE 👏

Site Meetings / Holiday Gatherings
Reminder, site meetings this month will be held in person at each campus as holiday gatherings. Food will be served 🥂

Please RVSP by accepting each meeting on your calendar (check the week of the 12^th – 16^th)

In Solidarity,

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