Current Poll Question

What is your biggest concern as an SMC faculty member?
 

Ask the Prez

Do part-time faculty have a retirement plan?

Yes. Pursuant to federal law, part-time faculty have three choices. Upon employment, they are automatically entered into a defined contribution plan administered by MetLife. Part-time faculty have the option of joining STRSDB (State Teachers Retirement System), a defined benefit plan, or STRS Cash Balance. Part-time faculty cannot simultaneously belong to all three plans. Please contact MetLife or STRS for plan details.

Read all of the questions and answers here.

Join the FA!

To join today, click on "Download Now"!
Find out more about Membership and Agency Fee

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to download a printable version of SMCFA's membership form.

Download Form Now

Contact Us!

Santa Monica College Faculty Association
1900 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA  90405
Phone 310-434-4394
FAX 310-434-3601

www.SMCFA.org

May, 2003, Volume 13, Issue 6 - Why Won't the District Cut a Deal? PDF Print E-mail
By Lantz Simpson

      Why won’t the District cut a deal with the Faculty Association and save all the vocational programs slated for elimination or pruning and also rescind the May 15 lay off notices to the eight full time faculty?  The FA has tried to cut such a deal for the last two months and the District has refused.  Now the District has begun, as expected, a fait accompli disinformation campaign about what it really offered before May 15.  The record is clear.  Before May 15, the District did not offer to cut any kind of deal to save programs and jobs.  In fact, it was expressly unwillingly to do so.

      Here’s how the FA has tried to cut a deal since the District announced its intent to eliminate programs and lay off faculty:

      -- The District proposed two months ago that the FA agree to the following for 2003-04: defer salary decompression, step and group movement, and sabbaticals.  When asked what the District could offer in return for such a huge concession the answer was: NOTHING.  Then the District also proposed that the FA agree to give all of that up in exchange for retirement incentives.  Talk about negotiating against yourself.

-- The FA counter proposed a voluntary salary reduction plan for faculty.  The District responded: “We’re not interested.”   

-- The FA joined with the Academic Senate to make recommendations to the Budget Committee on three alternative budget scenarios.  All administrators on the Budget Committee voted against it.  Everyone else voted in favor.  The recommendation was sent to the President, who rejected some of the proposed items from the best-case scenario.

-- Just last week and out of the blue, the District proposed that the FA agree to changing health benefit providers because it would be save the District $2 million next year.  The FA asked: what would the District offer in return?

Answer: lower deductibles.   The FA said we would study the new plan and would like some questions about the new plan answered next week.  Now the District is telling faculty the FA is not interested.

      -- The FA brought up the deal made in Ventura, whose faculty agreed to a pay cut in exchange for no lay offs.  The District responded: “We’re not interested in that.”

      -- The May revise appeared on May 14.  It makes clear that the worst-case scenario pushed by the District since January is dead.  When the administration and the trustees presented their case for eliminations and lay offs, this huge fact was completely ignored.  The May revise rendered obsolete the President’s objections to the best-case scenario.

      The District has made it clear from the beginning of this fiasco: no deal to save programs or jobs.   WHY?
  		 

 

 

2010 Negotiations

 Follow our negotiations!

Click here!