On Wednesday, April 30, the San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers came together to motivate the board of trustees to give direction to the negotiating team that would grant fair pay and benefits for all educators; they also advocated for immigrant students and called for action against unjust treatment.

The larger union organization they belong to is the American Federation of Teachers (AFT1493). Each district has the ability to have its local union, and AFT1493 represents the San Mateo Community College District combined faculty at Skyline College, Cañada College, and the College of San Mateo (CSM).

According to AFT1493’s most recent negotiations report, the district offered only a 1.5% annual raise for full-time faculty over the course of the next three years, while the board had granted themselves a 5% annual raise.

Sociology and social justice studies professor and AFT1493 union co-president, Rika Yonemura-Fabian, added that despite full-time faculty getting a small raise, part-time faculty — even if they are teaching the same courses as their full-time counterparts — aren’t getting paid the same or receiving the same benefits.

“The adjunct faculty, they struggle paying rent,” Yonemura-Fabian said. “Lots of our students don’t know that our part time faculty members don’t have true job security. If classes, enrollment go down, then they are the first to be cut.”

On Wednesday, speakers, including union co-president Tamara Perkins who works as an adjunct professor at CSM and Skyline, advocated for themselves as well as other faculty. Perkins urged the board to reconsider negotiations made by the union and faculty to include healthcare benefits for part-time faculty; she added that doing so would not bring any financial burden to the district, and denying the benefits would be putting money to waste.

Perkins further stated in her speech that there is a state requirement that college districts have to allocate at least 50% of their income toward faculty compensation, and that percentage has currently dropped down to around 41%.

“Making faculty a priority is not merely a matter of meeting contractual obligations, it is an investment in the quality of education and support we provide our students,” Perkins said. “As an adjunct faculty member, when my pay is already lower solely because I’m not working full time, the situation created an undue burden on part time faculty who bring the same dedication to the college and their students.”

Another area of negotiation for the union was on the matter of protecting the undocumented and international students of the district.

Tim Shively, English professor at De Anza and president of the Foothill De Anza Faculty Association and Bay Faculty Association, addressed the board on behalf of immigrant students, whose ability to continue their education has been jeopardized by the Trump administration. Shively stated that he and others around the state have been organizing to create solidarity between executives, faculty, staff, students, and community members so they can push back against the federal government and its recent actions.

“Now is not the time to shelter in place,” Shively said. “We’ve seen what happens to those who capitulate to the federal demands like Columbia University. We need resistance.”

Shively went on to acknowledge fears of blowback those in power may have from taking action in order to protect students.

“We need to confront those fears, individually and collectively and stand up for our most at risk community members,” Shively said. “I know some are thinking, ‘But those international students who had their visa status terminated have had it restored.’ Do you really think that this cannot happen again and worse, with people being seized off the streets, deported to maximum security prisons in foreign countries without due process, that it couldn’t happen to you?”

Later in an interview, Shively reiterated the importance of working with other district unions to petition for the protection of students.

“We’re willing to sit down with the heads of the district administration and work out the details of [protecting undocumented students],” Shively said.

Shively added that while his chancellor had agreed to that, he’s hoping that other chancellors can do the same and meet with this shared intention.

“You know, link the two chancellors together, and that’s how you build a movement out,” Shively said.

Jessica Silver-Sharp, vice president of AFT1493, further stressed the importance of the union’s presence and voices at the board meeting because they are the ones who will bring their petitions to the negotiating team for action to be taken.

Silver-Sharp added that it’s a bonus that students have shown their support for professors and faculty in their fight for a fair contract.

“Our students have supported us and come out to stand behind us,” Silver-Sharp said. “They’ve really made the connection that our improved working conditions translate to their learning conditions.”