Association of Classified Employees Foothill – De Anza

Category: ACE News

  • 2025.11.06 Update – Election Results, Food Assistance, Financial Relief, PGA, SDL, T-Shirts, Jury Duty, Inaccurate Pay

    ACE Members,

    Election Results
    Thank you to @Sharon Garcia-Vega (Recorder) for managing the two concurrent elections for the negotiated Tentative Agreements with the District and for ACE Executive Board Members in the even year cycle. Results from both were relayed to the District.

    • New components of our Agreement are in effect following approval by the Board of Trustees. We’ll begin updating documents, websites, and trainings. Per 5.4, “The District will prepare the authoritative text of the Agreement, as may be amended, subject to approval by ACE. The District will place the Agreement on the District website.”
      • Ongoing pay is expected to be implemented in December paychecks.
      • Retroactive pay is expected to be a part of February paychecks.
      • Reminder: Implementation requires the work of many classified professionals in Central Services.
      • This timeline is consistent with the past and we’ll keep you informed of any changes.
    • Elected board members begin serving their 2-year terms on January 1st, 2026.

    Training will be scheduled in January to onboard everyone on our board.

    Thank you to @Lisa Ly and @Yasmine Malboubi for their service during their terms as board members for each campus. We’re certain they will continue to remain actively engaged in union work.

    Food Assistance
    For anyone in need visit the California Association of Food Banks (LINK) to find your local food bank.

    Do you have a food resource to share with members in need? Respond to this message.

    Financial Relief
    Check with your local credit union if they are offering similar relief for members affected by the federal government shutdown (LINK).

    Do you have a financial resource to share with members in need? Respond to this message.

    Professional Growth Award Forms Updated
    The PGA committee has provided updated information for submitting an application which is now available on our website (LINK).

    Questions? Reach out to pga@fhda.edu or contact a member of the committee directly. An updated list of committee members is available on our website (LINK).

    Staff Development Leave (SDL)
    The SDL PowerPoint presentation shown during November site meetings has been uploaded to our website and the form is also available (LINK).

    • Feel free to arrange a 30 minute meeting for Q&A about your application.
    • The deadline to submit an application is December 15th.

    We’ll send another reminder along with a separate explainer as part of an upcoming member message for those who were unable to attend recent meetings.

    T-Shirts Arrived
    8 of 9 boxes from our initial order arrived last Thursday and were distributed from the Foothill ACE Office and De Anza ACE Office. Union made clothing was purchased from Sawicki & Son (LINK) and we already need to order more. Feedback so far has been positive. Do you have a vendor that you’ve had success with? Please let a board member know.

    The ACE Executive Board will discuss plans to place another order at our upcoming meeting. There is a utility to advertising our union, displaying solidarity with fellow members, and showing pride for being a member.

    President’s Jury Duty Next Week (Message)
    I’m on call for jury duty next week. As a reminder, 10.6 covers this event for everyone (LINK). This may affect my availability and response time – I’ll keep everyone informed.

    10.6 Jury Duty

    In order to encourage workers to accept jury duty as a responsibility of citizenship, the District will pay workers at their regular rate of pay while they are performing jury service. When jury duty consumes only a portion of the day, workers are expected either to report to work immediately after jury duty or to have pay canceled for the day. A worker must reimburse the District for the fee received from jury duty by having that amount reduced from their paycheck…

    If you have questions, contact a steward.

    I also have a meeting this afternoon to discuss member pay discrepancies with the Dianna Rose (Vice Chancellor of Human Resources). Thank you to those who’ve forwarded outstanding items which may have been assigned to either Karen White or Karen Hunter – you’re on my list and I’ll provide individual updates.

    In Service,

    Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
    https://acefhda.org | scott.olsen@acefhda.org 
    650-949-7789 | M-F 8:30am-5:00pm

  • 2025.10.30 Update – TAs Ratified, Additional Language Pay, COLA, Elections, HR Staffing, Señor Scary

    ACE Members,

    Tentative Agreements Ratified – What’s Next?
    Members approved our negotiated TAs by a vote of 149 to 1. The next step in approval happens during Monday night’s Board of Trustees meeting. Following the final step all items become a part of our Agreement. The two items I’ve received the most questions about are:

    8.11 Language Proficiency Pay
    a. Workers required by their manager to use their additional language skills in the regular course of business shall receive $ 100 per month.
    b. Employees will only receive $ 100regardless of how many languages they are certified to interpret and/or translate.
    c. The pay will be for languages deemed appropriate by the District and may change as the needs of the District change.
    d. To be eligible for the pay the employee must pass a Language Proficiency exam.
    e. When an employee moves to a different position, the continuation of the pay will be at the discretion of the new manager.

    Email your manager and ask, “am I required to use an additional language as a part of my regular work?”
    If they respond with yes, we can begin to pursue the additional pay through District HR by arranging for an language exam.

    If they respond with no, it is your choice whether or not to volunteer to provide additional language skills in the workplace.

    Effective July 1, 2025, the salary schedule will be increased by 3%.

    The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is currently planned to be implemented in December paychecks pending testing by Payroll. Typically, two months of testing are set aside, so an update will be sent if any of this is delayed until January. This increases each step on the salary schedule by 3% or 1.03 and is retroactive to July 1st for earnings, which necessitates calculation by Central Services employees for those previous five months. Current salary schedules are available on the HR website (LINK). Thank you to those who are working to get this accomplished by the end of the tax year.

    Special Note: October Paystub PDFs are known to be inaccurate, but MyPortal (Banner) is still considered the source truth four our leave balance, leave usage, and deductions. Nancy Chao sent out an announcement earlier today with instructions on how to verify data. Contact me if you need an updated paystub.

    ACE Elections – Reminder to Vote
    Elections for ACE Executive Board positions conclude tomorrow – there’s still time to vote if you haven’t done so already. Contact @Sharon Garcia-Vega if you did not receive a link from ElectionRunner.com or have any issues with the site. Thank you to those who stepped up to serve in union positions. Everything that ACE does day-to-day is accomplished by members coming forward.

    Human Resources – Karenless

    Karen White and Karen Hunter are currently out of the office. If you have a pending issue that has not been resolved, contact @Kit Ocanada and cc me on the message. She is working through a list of pending issues I’ve been made aware of by members.

    Thank you to @Karen Hunter for her years of service at the District and we’re all wishing her a wonderful retirement.

    Which ACE Member is Señor Scary?
    The final two nights of their annual Halloween Haunt, Los Muertos Cemetery is on display in Santa Clara. Visit this (LINK) for more information. Expect to be startled by fellow District employees who may make cameo appearances. (I’ll likely be there on Friday night.)

    Very nice Halloween decor. Skeletons. Pumpkins.

    In Service,

    Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
    https://acefhda.org | scott.olsen@acefhda.org  
    650-949-7789 | M-F 8:30am-5:00pm

  • 2025.10.21 Update – Negotiations, Elections, Dues Forgiveness, Housing, Staff Development Leave

    ACE Members,

    President’s Message – Negotiations, Elections, Collective Power
    This is trick-or-treating season and our inboxes are getting full of sweet union messages which demonstrate what we accomplish as an employee group. For full 2025-26 tentative agreement details scroll back to Friday for the summary message from @Chris Chavez, chair of negotiations. Here are highlights:

    • 3.0% salary schedule increase to each step.
    • $20 increase to each Longevity Award ($80 @ 4 awards).
    • Language Proficiency Stipend (Bilingual Pay) made permanent.
    • Increased initial Vacation Accrual from 6.66 to 7.0 hours per month.
      • 10 hours per month at the beginning of year 3.
      • 13.33 hour per month at the beginning of year 7.
      • 16 hours per month at the beginning of year 13.
    • Working Out of Class permanency option after 2 years.
    • Increased annual Travel & Conference and Educational Assistance individual limits.
    • Work After Clocking Out changed from 11pm to 8pm (see 13.2.6.2).

    An Outlook invitation was sent to members to join a general membership meeting at Foothill this Thursday at Noon in the Toyon room (and virtually via Zoom) to discuss the tentative agreements. Online voting on the negotiated items will begin following the meeting. Reminder: It’s an all or nothing, yes or no, membership vote. Upon approval, we move forward with implementing the changes. Upon disapproval, we go back to the table to negotiate with the district.

    These contract changes don’t happen without a union and member support. Our negotiations team did a tremendous job at the bargaining table. Figuratively (using Halloween frame of reference) we saw the Faculty Association knock on the District’s door and leave with a bag of candy, then we knocked and wouldn’t leave until our bag was equally as filled. Results are a great recruiting tool, so if you are having a conversation with a non-member who didn’t receive the details from ACE, encourage them to join as a member. None of the highlighted items were passively obtained handouts – we challenge the District to respond to employee needs. Instructions on how to join our union are on our website (LINK). Feel free to send non-members with questions to any ACE representative.

    Elections for union representatives are also taking place for the following positions: President, Central Services Vice President, De Anza Vice President, Foothill Chief Steward, De Anza Board Member (Seat 1), and Foothill Board Member. Emails from ElectionRunner were sent this morning. Contact @Sharon Garcia-Vega if you didn’t receive information on voting. Thank you to members who serve in these leadership roles. We achieve more when more of us participate. The work is easier  on us when more of us contribute.

    Dues Forgiveness – October
    The Executive Board approved dues forgiveness for upcoming member paychecks. Dues will not be deducted at the end of the month and for those who are paid mid-month. Thank you to @Jesse Perez for confirming our financial ability to allow for this and to @Lisa Kirk for raising the topic at a site meeting – come to a site meeting, members can do a lot.

    • ACE has forgiven dues at least twice a year since 2009.
    • We have forgave dues during the entire 2020 year.
    • Dues are only collected from base (reg) pay.
      • Dues are not taken other compensation (Overtime, PGA, Longevity, etc.)
    • The current dues rate is less than 1% (.87%)

    We do not charge dues when we have sufficient funds to cover monthly expenses, pending litigation, and an adequate amount in our strike fund. As an independent labor association, we control our money and what the ways it goes toward representation.

    231 Grant – Employee Housing
    If you missed the open house event last Saturday, events are planned for every 3rd Saturday of each month per Virginia Allen, Marketing Manager for Mercy Housing. Questions? Contact 231grant@mercyhousing.org

    Search your inbox for previous messages on the topic.

    Staff Development Leave Training
    Join the next two upcoming site meetings for trainings and Q&A about Staff Development Leave. In the meantime check out 10.13 (LINK) if you’re nearing the end of your 7th year with the district:

    10.13 Staff Development Leave
    To encourage and enable classified workers to enhance their value to the District through further job-related education, the upgrading of their skills, or retraining for a different career path, a Staff Development Leave has been established. A worker may apply for Staff Development Leave to begin upon completing seven (7) years of service in the District. The leave may be from one to ten months at 85% of full pay. Such leaves may be taken in one-quarter increments to a maximum of ten months. A worker becomes eligible for additional leaves after completing increments of seven (7) years of service to the District.

    It’s been a busy season – more updates to come. Chris and I are busy responding to your questions about the tentative agreements.

    In Service,

    Scott Olsen (he/him) | ACE President
    https://acefhda.org | scott.olsen@acefhda.org  
    650-949-7789 | M-F 8:30am-5:00pm