23 Years in the Making
Richard Quinton/Courier
Can’t Touch This: Edino Steele runs the final stretch at College of San Mateo in his 45.77 seconds, 400-
meter dash victory at the track and field State Championships on May 21. Steele took home four wins as
part of the first men's track & field team at PCC to win state in 23 years. ggg ‘History’
Workers
Lash Out
at Board
Raul Cabral
News Editor
PCC facilities workers and members of the California
School Employees Association made their presence known
at the May 16 board of trustees meeting, demanding a new,
fairer contract for all their workers.
In a battle that has been ongoing since the last labor con¬
tract expired in 2005, over 60 union members from across
southern California showed up to voice their support for
PCC workers.
Union members paraded in front of the college carrying
signs saying “Need surgery? You’re fired,” “use your sick
leave, face a suspension,” and “fair contract now.”
"It’s deplorable that you are treating your classified
employees this way," said Judy McKinley, worker and
member of Chapter 434 of the CSEA, to the board. The
CSEA and its members feel that they are being short¬
changed in many areas, including sick leave. PCC facilities
workers are accessed demerits in the form of points on
their work record if they use too much of their sick leave.
According to the education code, employees earn one sick
day for every month they work.
“When you penalize [workers] for sick leave, not only
are you violating the education code and people’s civil
rights, but you are also subjecting them to intimidation and
harassment. It’s time to treat all classified employees with
fairness and respect,” said Ruben Sanchez, member of
Chapter 1 1 of the CSEA.
Any employee who has less than 18 days of sick time, or
one and a half years of sick time on their record, is subject
to Article 9 Attendance Accounting procedure, more com¬
monly referred to as the “point system.” Too many
absences can trigger the point system, and once points are
accessed against a worker, they can be used to suspend or
fire that person.
Once on the system, workers are assigned a point for each
day of an unexcused absence, tardies, or leaving work early,
all as defined by the director of facilities. When workers
accumulate six points, they receive a one-week suspension.
Nine points warrants a two-week suspension, and 12 points
is grounds for termination.
The contract that CSEA members are still working under
says that “If the employee returns from illness with a verifi¬
able doctor’s excuse for outpatient treatment directly related
See ‘Facilities’ - Page 3
PCC Voices Its Safety Concerns
Jason Lowder
Contributing Writer
With the Virginia Tech shooting still fresh in
everyone's mind, PCC students and faculty
have conflicting views on the overall safety of
the campus and whether campus police
should carry firearms.
“I feel pretty safe on campus, but after the
Virginia Tech shooting I was a bit worried
about the security,” said global studies major
Amy Yang.
Chicano studies major Frank Acosta
echoed Yang's sentiment, “I feel safe on cam¬
pus. PCC gets a great rating from me as far as
safety goes.”
Although Acosta feels safe, he also feels
campus officers should be armed. “I feel that
campus police should definitely be packing.”
Yang, who had her car stolen last year,
agrees. “I would feel safer if the campus police
were armed.”
While the majority of students are satisfied
with security on the campus, some of the fac¬
ulty had a different opinion. Journalism
instructor Warren Swil said, “Maybe the stu¬
dents are naive,” regarding how students felt
about their safety at PCC.
When responding to a question regarding
how she would rate campus safety, Spanish
professor Pilar Ara replied, “I feel safe on
campus, but I don’t know how to rate PCC as
far as safety is concerned. What 1 do know is
that I feel safer at home than I do at school.”
Ara does not feel it’s necessary for the offi¬
cers to be armed.
“I still believe it is best to have unarmed
campus police. They are trained in ways to
See ‘Safety’ - Page 3
Yo Ho! Yo Ho!
Head to the
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Dance Like There’s
NOTomorrow
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