San Mateo, CA — San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) has filed for impasse in collective bargaining negotiations with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1493, which represents faculty at Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College.
Since bargaining began in February 2025, the District and AFT have held 21 negotiation sessions in an effort to reach a new agreement. While progress has been made on four articles, the parties remain significantly apart on compensation and over a dozen other items. In this uncertain economic climate, the District anticipates a significantly reduced county Assessed Valuation (AV) this year—an ongoing source of funds that helps the District give raises to all employee groups. Understandably, this limits the District’s ability to provide increases at the same level as in recent years. AFT’s latest proposal (including COLA and all other ongoing economic proposals) would cost more than $54 million over three years for the faculty group alone, dramatically exceeding the available resources the District will have for raises and increased benefit costs across all employee groups.
“SMCCCD deeply values our faculty and their integral role in the classroom, fostering student success,” said Chancellor Melissa Moreno. “We remain optimistic that, with the help of a third-party mediator, we will reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We must continue to demonstrate prudent fiscal stewardship and careful monitoring of revenues.”
Filing for impasse and entering into mediated negotiations are standard parts of the collective bargaining process when progress in direct negotiations has stalled.
Media Contact: David McLain, Community & Government Relations, SMCCCD, (650) 730-8049 or mclaind@smccd.edu.
About San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD): SMCCCD operates three colleges, Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College, that provide community college educational services to the residents of San Mateo County. The District’s colleges serve over 30,000 students annually and offer the first two years of college-level instruction in various transfer and career-technical programs. The District is governed by a six-member Board of Trustees, with five voting members elected by voters from designated areas of the County and one nonvoting student member elected by students. For more information, see: smccd.edu.