Peralta Board of Trustees wraps up the semester with no VP
Peralta Federation of Teachers address tensions with no new contract
By Isis Piccillo, Managing Editor
The Peralta Board of Trustees convened Dec. 12 for their last meeting of the year.
The faculty union, Peralta Federation of Teachers (PFT) 1603, showed up in droves to the public comment to address issues of contract negotiations, cost of living adjustments, part-time faculty pay parity, and class cuts.
According to union secretary and grievance officer Jeff Sanceri, the contract expired June 30, 2019, and the union has been in negotiations ever since.
Before the meeting began, union members packed the room to sing a series of songs and parody carols whose words had been changed to reflect their “Fair Contract Now” message.
Trustee Julina Bonilla, board president, was absent. An announcement was made at the beginning of the meeting that she was experiencing connectivity issues and could not join the meeting remotely as planned.
Trustee Karen Weinstein, current board vice president, was voted board president 6–1. But nominations for board vice president, of Trustee Bill Withrow and Trustee Nicky González Yuen respectively, both failed with no majority vote. The board will vote again in January when the next semester reconvenes.
The board approved all personnel items with the exception of the permanent vice-chancellor of human resources and employee relations position. Chanelle Whittaker, current interim vice chancellor of human resources & employee relations, has been in the position since July 2018 and was Chancellor Stanback Stroud’s recommendation for permanent reassignment.
Trustees Brown and Withrow voted to approve the reassignment, while Trustees Weinstein, González Yuen, and Napoli-Abella Reiss did not.
Trustee Handy abstained from the vote and said, “I have some serious concerns about performance prior to this time.”
