***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR THURSDAY, OCT. 22***

Contacts: 

Chelsea Fink, (510) 435-8282, Chelsea.Fink@seiu1021.org

Spencer Jackson, (323) 943-0475, Sjackson@aft2121.org

San Francisco, CA – On Thursday, October 22, City College of San Francisco (CCSF) students, faculty, classified professionals, and community supporters will hold the Rally for the City College Our Students Deserve. Union members from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT 2121) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU 1021) will join students and community members to call on GrowSF’s billionaire-backed CCSF Board of Trustees to bargain in good faith and end chronic understaffing, ongoing safety concerns, and underfunding of essential programs by providing sustainable staffing and resources.

• WHAT: Rally for the City College Our Students Deserve with SEIU 1021 & AFT 2121
• TIME: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
• DATE: Thursday, October 22, 2026
• WHERE: MUB parking lot outside the Board of Trustees meeting, Ocean Campus (55 Frida Kahlo Way)
• WHO: Congressional candidate Connie Chan, SF Labor Council ED Kim Tavaglione, D8 Supervisor candidate Gary McCoy, labor-endorsed Board candidates, SEIU 1021 leaders & members, AFT 2121 leaders & members, CCSF students, & community allies
• VISUALS: Signs, speakers from AFT 2121, SEIU 1021 and supporters

San Francisco’s political landscape has shifted as billionaire-backed organizations like GrowSF gain influence in local elections, including on community college boards, vying to ensure the city’s fortunes tilt in their favor. CCSF is the latest institution caught in this power grab, as GrowSF backed a majority of its board of trustees and backs four board candidates in November’s election.

As the city’s largest provider of workforce training and higher education, CCSF plays a vital role in preparing workers for careers in construction, healthcare, and other essential industries. Yet the faculty and staff who keep the college running are critically understaffed, and many cannot afford to live in the city they serve, threatening to undermine the quality of CCSF’s most in-demand programs. Meanwhile, the college has been running large budget surpluses for the past six years. With a budget surplus and over $70 million in reserves, cutting resources and allowing staffing shortages to persist is not inevitable; it is a policy choice. The CCSF community should loudly question the trustees and hold them accountable.

The continuing success of CCSF and the vital role it plays for San Francisco are at stake if the board continues to move in this direction. This moment is a chance for the Board to show students and workers it is listening to the people most affected by its decisions, not the billionaires behind most of its trustees’ campaigns.