Skip to main content

2022.11.30 Update – Staff Development Leave, Vision Resource Center, Dues, Holiday Gathering

Written by ACE

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

ACE News, Agreement

2022.11.10 Update – Election Results, Mask Policy Meet & Confer, Free Flu Shot Event, Veteran’s Day

Written by ACE

ACE Members,

ACE Election Results
Huge thank you to @Shawna Santiago for running the election so well 👏 We sincerely appreciate those who accepted their nomination for a position on the ACE executive board and those who participated by voting. In case you missed the results last Friday, the are on our website (LINK.) Newly elected board members will begin their two-year terms on January 1st, 2023 – Congratulations to Stacey Carrasco, Thomas Marks, Angelica Esquivel, Erika Flores, Phuong Tran, Shawna Santiago, and Kathy Nguyen.

Mask Policy Meet & Confer Results
On Wednesday, November 9th, ACE and District Human Resources representatives met to bargain the impact of the Chancellor’s abrupt policy change. It was agreed that members can individually post signage or verbally request that masks be worn in their work areas. If you are met with resistance, notify your manager/supervisor/administrator. You do not need to disclose your personal need for a mask to be worn but know that you do have the support of Human Resources in cases such as where a person in you are in close contact with is in a high risk category when contracting covid (immunocompromised, too young to be vaccinated, etc..) If an employee has a medical condition accommodations can be made. Contact an ACE Steward if needed.

FHDA CCD’s current overall policy making masks optional aligns with guidance from Santa Clara County (LINK) and the Center for Disease Control (LINK).

We appreciate the Marietta Harris and Ray Quan working collaboratively with ACE to develop practices that create a safe working environment. This meeting fulfills the requirement by our contract agreement to meet with ACE. As such we will withdraw our unfair labor practice and grievance.

As a reminder, COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave provides covered employees up to 80 hours of COVID-19 related paid leave, with up to 40 of those hours for isolation & quarantine, receiving vaccines, and caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed and up to an additional 40 of those hours available only when an employee, or family member for whom the employee provides care, tests positive for COVID-19. Review the department of industrial relations frequently asked questions for more information (LINK.)

The leave covers Jan 1, 2022 through Dec 31, 2022. COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave is retroactive to January 1, 2022, which means that covered employees who took qualifying leave between January 1, 2022 and February 19, 2022, can request payment for that leave if it was not paid by the employer in the amount that is required under this law.

Free Flu Shots at De Anza Health Services
Today at 10 am until Noon, ACE members Erika Martinez Meraz, Tara Chan, and Rosa-Ann Fragoza will be providing free flu vaccines to students and employees. If you can’t make it today, Wednesday, Dec 7th is the last drop in event. (LINK) to more details.

Future ACE updates should be much less cold and flu centric🤞

Veteran’s Day Holiday
Contract information has been added to your calendars and time has been blocked off as a reminder of tomorrow’s holiday. What are your thoughts on this? Should we do the same for the rest of the district holiday schedule? Let us know at a site meeting or respond via email.

Thank you to those who’ve served in the military. I encourage members to participate in local events honoring veterans, visit your local veterans memorial, or volunteer your time to show support.

In Solidarity,

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

ACE News, Elections

2022.11.02 Update – FY22-23 COLA, Dues Forgiveness, 2021-24 Agreement, Union Bug, Elections, Workshops, Mask Policy

Written by ACE

ACE Members,

FY22-23 COLA

November paychecks will have our negotiated 5.56% salary schedule increase. In addition, the retroactive amount due for July through October (4 months) will be included.

Thank you again to our Negotiations Team 👏 As a reminder, the state approved cost of living adjustment is not a passthrough at this district. ACE actively negotiates with the district’s team each year to settle upon the final COLA.

November Dues Forgiveness

ACE has sent a message to Payroll to forgive member dues for the month of November. We can forgive dues because we are an independent association and manage our money responsibly. Our Executive Board approved three months of dues forgiveness during the 22-23 academic year as a part of our budget (LINK.) November will be the second approved month ACE has not charged dues. February 2023 will most likely be the third month we do not charge dues as a part of this budget.

Are we charging an appropriate amount to maintain our business today and for the future?

ACE is looking for representation from members at De Anza to serve on a committee to answer this question. Email olsenscott@fhda.edu or scott.olsen@acefhda.org  if you would like to join.

2021-24 Agreement

ACE has been asking for our updated agreement to be made available since January of this year. Unfortunately administrators who are no longer with the district failed to bring it to the Board of Trustees for approval. All negotiated tentative agreements (TAs) have been ratified by past membership votes, but have not been consolidated into our contract. What has changed?

  • 9.1 Holidays (2021) From 17 to 18 with the addition of Juneteenth, effective June 19, 2022 onward.
  • 23.1 Length of Agreement (2021) This agreement will continue in effect through October 31, 2024…
  • 14.7 Travel and Conference (2019) Fund increased from $40,000 to $60,000.
  • 14.8 Educational Assistance (2019) Training/Retraining Funds increased from $1200 to $1500 per fiscal year.
  • 8.4.5 Longevity (2019) Classified Hourly employees to receive longevity awards on the same timeline as regular classified employees at a prorated amount.
  • 18.1 Benefits (2019) Classified Hourly benefits for those who can show they have no other access to medical insurance may enroll in an individual basic Kaiser plan.

The list above is not fully comprehensive, but it illustrates what we negotiate for. It is crucial that the outcomes above are documented in our agreement to create a common understanding of the rules of employment. You can review which contract articles have been opened for negotiations in the past on our website (LINK.)

Union Bug & Website Updates

Spooky season caught up with the ACE website. Links have turned orange for fall, ghosts a few things moved around, and changes were made to improve readability. Thanks to @Jerry Robredo we’ve also got a union bug which draws from elements of our classic logo, which goes along with Article 5.5 (LINK):

Union bug, glowing lion with "ACE"

Article 5.5 Union “Bug”

Union members shall have the right to include the Union label on all books, reports, brochures, stationery or other documents produced by the District in accordance with customary printing trade’s practices unless the person ordering the printing marks an objection on the appropriate form.

If you use it on any of the items above, send Jerry and I a photo or screenshot.

Elections

All members should have received a message titled “Your Invitation to Vote in the Election: 2023-20234 ACE Elections” from electionrunner.com. Search your inboxes and junk mail for it. If you are a member and have not received this notification contact @Shawna Santiago.

Thank you to those who’ve participated in the process. We are an independent business that relies on active member participation and members taking leadership positions as a representatives to make decisions about the direction of our union.

Upcoming Professional Development Workshops

@Claudia Guzman from the Office of Professional Development at De Anza has provided a list of upcoming workshops (attachment in email.)

California Community Colleges: Vision Resource Center (Overview)

  • November 14th 12:00 – 1:00pm
  • December 8th 1:00 – 2:00pm

ACE Professional Growth Award / Educational Assistance Reimbursement (Overview)

  • November 3rd 1:00-2:00pm
  • December 1st 1:00-2:00pm

Staff Development Leave (Overview)

  • November 10th 12:00-1:00pm
  • November 29th 11:00am-12:00pm

Employees can register for all of the Fall 2022 workshops by visiting this google form (LINK.)

Mask Policy Change Demand to Bargain

To date the district has failed to meet with ACE. Three weeks have passed since we sent our last message and no attempt has been made on behalf of district administrators to meet an confer regarding the impact of the unilateral policy change. ACE is not challenging their ability to make these changes, but management is legally obligated to negotiate the impact with us. No response they have provided has included a legitimate reason not to come to the table.

All district employees received a message on October 18th from the Chancellor regarding a meeting with another bargaining unit (LINK) who had issued the same demand. ACE continues to press for an equal response. Inaction on behalf of management is insulting. A process which should have taken an hour has now consumed a month. It has generated two districtwide “apology” messages, exchanges between our attorneys and district lawyers, and been an unfortunate topic of these update messages. As president I don’t want to write nastygrams, but I will do so in an effort to obtain respect for us in the workplace.

“Scott, you need to be more positive,” sometimes gets said to me and my response has been, “I’m part of a union, we take garbage and process it into positivity all day.”

In Solidarity,

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

ACE News, , , ,