By David Sheftman, CCFT Historian
We’ve all heard the saying, “What’s old is new again.” Looking through past CCFT newsletters
in our archives, another saying comes to mind: “Same old same old.”
Sayings like those affirm that lessons from the past can serve our union well in the present, and
that the struggle for our rights to just compensation and working conditions is a never-ending
one. Our union is a living, evolving organism, our past informing our present. We can never
rest on our laurels.
In October of 2025, our union celebrated its 40 th anniversary. Sadly, many of our union
brothers and sisters are no longer with us, having passed away. There are also many who are
with us still but we no longer see them since they are enjoying richly deserved time away from
the college in their retirement years.
As a Star Trek nerd, my journey through our union’s archives evoked a favorite episode of Star
Trek: The Next Generation called “Rightful Heir.” In this episode, the legendary Klingon warrior-
king, Kahless the Unforgettable, returns as prophesied. It turns out, however, that this Kahless
is a clone engineered from DNA of the original. The cloned Kahless is introduced as the real one
in order to rouse the Klingons from the moral corruption they have descended into, the moral
corruption of no longer following the teachings of Kahless.
Eventually it is decided by the Klingon High Council that the cloned Kahless will be revealed as a
clone and will take on the ceremonial role of spiritual leader but exercising no political power.
Lieutenant Worf, a Klingon who serves in Starfleet as an officer aboard the Enterprise, had been
undergoing his own spiritual crisis and had taken a leave of absence to search for Kahless.
Having found the cloned Kahless and mistaking him for the real one before learning the truth,
Worf bids farewell to the cloned Kahless while expressing his disappointment in not fulfilling his
spiritual quest.
In reply, the cloned Kahless tells Worf:
“Kahless left us—all of us—a powerful legacy, a way of thinking and acting that makes us
Klingon. If his words hold wisdom and his philosophy is honorable, what does it matter if he
returns? What is important is that we follow his teachings. Perhaps the words are more
important than the man.”
With that in mind, for this edition of “From the Archives,” I offer you the words of one of our
past presidents and founding members of our union, English professor T. Mike Walker.
Attendees at the 40 th anniversary celebration of our union were blessed with the opportunity to meet T. Mike, who is now in his 80s, and hear him speak. In making his return, T. Mike
demonstrated both the importance of the man and of the words.
Here, then, from the April 1993 edition of the CCFT Newsletter, is our former President T. Mike
Walker reminding us that “the more things change the more things stay the same.” The faces
of those we bargain with at the negotiating table, the faces of Cabrillo College administration,
will change.
What remains the same is the calling for faculty of CCFT to fight to be seen, to be heard, to be
compensated justly for our labor. May we all continue to honor the legacy of those who came
before us by lending our energies and talents to building the enduring strength of our union.
Here is a photo of T. Mike from our 40 th anniversary event on October 25 th of 2025:
Here is T. Mike in his words from the April 1993 CCFT Newsletter, and in the original Klingon,
may be greet each other with a hearty Qapla' (which means, Success!).
President’s Message
District’s Contract Counterproposal: 122 Ways to Say “No”
The District’s primary response to CCFT’s contract proposal can be summed up in five words:
“The District does not accept..” or “The District does not approve…”—a negative phrase used
over 122 times, as if the District was in denial over faculty’s genuine needs and concerns. How
many times can we hear the word “no” and still believe the District has our best interests at
heart?
As it stands, the District’s response to the faculty is an attack against our workload. At a time of
declining enrollment, the District is proposing that the maximum class size be increased by two
students, with a proposal to increase English composition classes by as many as seven students.
DeFacto Pay Cuts
To add to the injury, every year that faculty and staff do not get a cost of living increase, we in
fact take a pay cut. Meanwhile, our health costs and other expenses soar with no relief in sight.