The Impact on Students: Myth: Fighting for this contract will hurt our students and take resources away from them. Fact 1: The District doing business as usual and withholding tax dollars to spite faculty is what hurts students. When the district invests in faculty, then they can also increase their investment in staff and services. Fact 2: The District hoarding a $300 million reserve while faculty struggle is what hurts students. Securing fair pay ensures educators can focus 100% on their classrooms.
Myth: Students don't benefit from faculty contract negotiations. Fact: Securing competitive pay is the only way the District can attract and retain the best educators instead of losing them to neighboring districts. Investing in faculty quality and stability is a direct investment in student success.
Myth: Voting "YES" means we stop working and walk out on August 27. Fact: A "YES" vote simply gives the bargaining team the leverage they need to secure a deal without having to call a strike.
Faculty Demands & Compensation: Myth: The District does not have the money to pay faculty more or match regional salaries. Fact: While most California community colleges budget 85% to 90% of their general fund for employee salary and benefits, SCCCD budgets only about 75% to 77%. The District routinely overbudgets and underspends on compensation, meaning the money is absolutely there.
Myth: The District cannot invest in faculty because the 50% Law limits how much they can spend on support services and non-instruction. Fact: The 50% Law requires that spending on instruction be at least equal to spending on non-instruction. The District blames this law for limiting support services, but they have actually chosen to limit spending on both. Every dollar spent on instruction mathematically frees up a dollar to be spent on non-instruction, meaning investing in faculty directly allows for more investment in staff and student services.
Myth: The District Office needs its current budget to function properly. Fact: The District Office consumes about 33% of the budget, leaving the colleges starving for the funding needed to support faculty, staff, and students. We are asking the District to stop spending so much on top bosses and put that money back into the classrooms.
Myth: Faculty are just being greedy by asking for more money when they are doing fine. Fact: Faculty compensation has not kept pace with inflation, and all of us face rising costs for housing, childcare, and out-of-pocket healthcare. We are simply asking to remain competitive. Currently, SCCCD full-time faculty earn about $10,000 less in salary and receive $6,000 less in healthcare contributions per year compared to peers at the College of the Sequoias (COS).
Myth: The District's proposals for salary and column advancement are fair and standard. Fact: The District's offer is well below average on healthcare and salary. Additionally, they are trying to make class and salary column advancement harder. The union is fighting for real improvements, not regressions that push faculty backward. On Average, the SCFT compensation ask is COLA plus 8-12% across the salary schedule, just to match COS. This District has only officially offered COLA plus 2%, far too low to cover the extreme increase in the cost of living in our area.
Management Retaliation & Faculty Protections Voting & Confidentiality
- Myth: Management will find out how I voted or see a "list" of voters.
- Fact: The vote is 100% anonymous and confidential. The election is managed digitally by Ballot Point, an independent third-party company. Neither the District, department chairs, nor union leadership will ever see how an individual voted or possess a voting list.
Tenure & Part-Time Job Security
- Myth: Participating in the strike vote or going on strike will hurt my tenure evaluation or cause me to lose my job.
- Fact: It is illegal for the District to use strike participation against new instructors when evaluating teaching or determining tenure. Lawful strikes and collective action are legally protected activities under California labor law.
- Myth: I am part-time, so the District will punish me by taking away my class assignments next semester.
- Fact: Retaliating against part-time faculty for union activity is strictly illegal. If administration attempts to pull class assignments due to strike participation, the union will fight the District through the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) and administrative/legal proceedings.
Work Directives & Administration Pressure
- Myth: My dean or supervisor can order me to answer emails or submit grades during a strike, and I can be disciplined if I refuse.
- Fact: If the union is officially on strike, the law protects your right to withhold labor. You are not required to answer District emails, submit grades, or follow work directives until the strike officially concludes.
- Myth: If administration calls me into a disciplinary meeting about union activities, I have to go alone and answer their questions.
- Fact: You have Weingarten Rights. If a meeting could in any way affect your working conditions or lead to discipline, you have the legal right to pause the meeting and demand that a union representative be present to support and protect you.
Individual Exposure & Legal Protections
- Myth: If I stand up to management, I will become an isolated target for retaliation.
- Fact: Collective action provides safety in numbers. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) protects every faculty member across the District, collectively and individually, regardless of tenure status or union membership. Sticking together ensures everyone remains protected.
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