BEGIN THE BARGAINING BEGUINE: FACULTY SALARIES ON THE TABLE
October 15, 2008

CFA received official notice from the CSU Chancellor’s Office late last week of the university administration’s intention to reopen bargaining on the pay raises promised to the faculty this fiscal year, thus beginning a new phase in the life of the faculty’s contract.

The Chancellor’s Office letter arrived after CFA sent an inquiry asking the administration to release the general salary increase slated for last July 1. That raise was held up due to the delay in adoption of a state budget.

“This is not unexpected,” said CFA President Lillian Taiz, a history professor at Cal State Los Angeles. “We anticipated this response and CFA has been preparing for this possibility for months.”

The faculty contract calls for pay raises in each of the three years it covers. The faculty already received increases in the first year covering 2007/08 including 2% on June 30, 2008 that appeared in August paychecks.

The administration has the right to call for new bargaining in years in which CSU funding falls below a minimum level. This is required in state law, and is spelled out in the contract as funding that falls below the level prescribed in the governor’s “Higher Education Compact.”

The governor dropped the promised compact funding in his budget plan this year. Although nearly $100 million was later added, largely due to the work of the Alliance for the CSU, the university remains $215 million short of the funding that should have been provided according to the compact.

In addition to the general salary increase (GSI) for everyone, service salary increases (SSIs) and the second year of equity pay increases also are affected by the notice to reopen talks. No dates have yet been set to begin the “meet and confer” process