After a year of often bitter negotiations, California FacultyAssociation union leaders approved a tentative three-year contractSaturday.
The agreement is being seen as a major win by union members andends the threat
of strike against the California State University’s 23 campuses.
The contract will provide a 2 percent raise for faculty each ofthe first two years, effective next month. After the third year,negotiations for compensation will reopen.
In addition, eligible faculty will also receive 2.65 percentsalary step increases each of the three years.
Another victory for faculty is the CSU’s allocation of healthbenefits for lecturers. During the first year of the contract, alllecturers who teach six units or more and cannot obtain healthinsurance elsewhere will be given coverage. The second year,insurance will be available for all eligible lecturers even if theycan get benefits elsewhere.
Temporary faculty who have six years of service will receive anautomatic three-year contract with no upfront evaluation.
The deal also provides funds to transfer the system’s 130counselors to a faculty pay scale, a move that could deliversubstantial raises.
“There are so many wonderful things in this contract,” LindaSmith, CFA vice president on campus, said. “The faculty should bereally happy.”
In a statement, CFA President Susan Meisenhelder called theagreement a “historic milestone” for faculty.
“It is also a victory for all Californians who are concerned aboutmaintaining the quality of accessibility of the CSU,” she said.
Officials at the CSU system were unavailable for commentyesterday, but have told The Daily Aztec that they were hopeful acontract would be signed before faculty took job actions.
California faculty have been working without a contract since July1. Negotiations and mediation between the two groups failed. Thethird stage — fact-finding — ended last week after a neutralfact-finder delivered a report offering bargaining compromises. Thefull report will be issued this week.
The new contract will run through June 30, 2004.
Smith credits faculty activism as one factor that pushed theadministration and union negotiators to agree on a settlement.
In November, about 400 CFA members demonstrated in front of CSUChancellor Charles Reed’s office in downtown Long Beach. About 800faculty, staff and students also protested in San Francisco lastmonth when Reed made a presentation to the American Council onEducation. In addition, several of the faculty unions on CSU campusesstaged demonstrations late last month.
Furthermore, each CSU campus held teach-ins last semester toeducate campuses about issues the union was fighting for.
“Faculty made the idea of a strike become credible,” Smith said.”When you get people out there, the administration sees that it is apossibility.
“This is an amazing statement about power and activism.”
In the past, contract negotiations between the two groups havebeen lengthy. Faculty fought a year-long battle starting in 1997 fora new contract. In the contract, employees received a 3 percent raiseand another 2 percent was directed toward a merit-pay system wherefaculty earned wage increases through research, community service orperformance. In 1999, the system imposed working conditions on thefaculty after negotiations for higher wages failed.
Other stipulations of this tentative contract include increasedpaid parental leave, time off from the tenure-track cycle forpregnancy or adoption of a child, 1,200 tenure-track searches by theCSU and hiring preference for lecturers who have taught within thesystem.
“Part of me was sad to say goodbye to the bargaining team,” Smithsaid. “We were colleagues, then friends and then really grew to be areal team. The membership may change, but the culture of this teamwill remain.”
The contract must still be approved by the union members. Facultyon all 23 campuses will be able to vote for the contract later thismonth electronically or at each school’s CFA office.
The CSU board of trustees also will consider the proposedcontract, but will not vote until mid-May.
Union leaders on campus will hold informational meetings about thecontract for faculty at noon on March 11 and 12. The location has notyet been determined.
