By Barbara Siegel, CSEA

CSEA (California School Employees Association) Chapter 36 welcomes all of you back to SMC for the Fall 2001 Semester.  CSEA, the classified employees union that represents all of the permanent non-teaching, non-managerial, non-administrative staff, wishes you success in your ongoing contract negotiations.  We stand side-by-side with you in supporting the traditions and legacy of the college.  We look forward to working together to maintain Santa Monica College as the premier California community college and to ensure quality of workplace and quality of life for its classified and faculty members.

Statewide, CSEA represents 230,000 classified employees, more than 400 of them here at SMC.  In July, CSEA Chapter 36 sent members Bernie Rosenloecher, Craig Walter, and Robert Ponce to attend our Statewide Annual Conference in Las Vegas.  At the conference the nearly 1700 delegates voted virtually unanimously to have CSEA become a chartered member of the 13 million member-strong AFL-CIO.  With this association, CSEA retains its autonomy, structure and own board and gains a seat on the AFL-CIO Board of Directors.  Significant benefits to CSEA include gaining additional legislative leverage at the state level and new influence at the federal level.  Additionally, we solidify our link with our fellow unions and strengthen our voice.

In Sacramento, CSEA has been actively pursuing restoration of funding to Santa Monica College through our Governmental Relations Office.  We have contacted the Governor's office to indicate our full support of funding restoration.  CSEA is also co-sponsoring SB 284 (Scott) which asks for a full restoration of funding to community colleges.  On an ongoing basis, CSEA continues to work on improving the outdated and arcane funding formulas now used for community colleges.