The California State University and the CSU Employees Union have yet to come to an agreement on the new faculty contracts.
Although tentative agreements have been made on issues such as property rights, safety, and parking, according to a CSU press release, an agreement on salary and workload has yet to be finalized.
Cal State Long Beach librarian and CSULB California Faculty Association bargaining team member Kelly Janousek said that faculty had high expectations for this contract because negotiation started back in December 2013. This gave faculty over six months to negotiate before contracts expired, she said.
In the past, Janousek said contracts were not up for negotiation until it was already expired. Contracts expired on June 30, but have been extended until Sept. 30, she said.
The CSU offered a 3 percent salary increase and an additional 2 percent salary increase in each of the subsequent two years of the three-year contract, according to the press release. However, faculty is asking for a 4 percent salary increase, and an additional 3 percent in each of the subsequent two years, Janousek said.
Although these percentages seem close, “because of the size of the bargaining unit, there are more than 23,000 employees represented by the California Faculty Association, the differences equate to millions of dollars,” Michael Uhlenkamp via email, CSU spokesman, said.
While not being given the pay they deserve, Janousek said that faculty workload continuously increases. Class sizes are larger, course expectations are being upped, and in order to get everything required to be done, faculty is working well over the 40-hour work week, she said. Some faculty members are working over 80 hours a week and going years without a raise, she said.
Douglas Domingo-Foraste, acting president of CFA, said that faculty members are not ready to settle for what they are being offered salary wise.
“Eight years ago we had a real raise,” Domingo-Foraste said, who is also a classics professor at Cal State Long Beach. “Two years ago we had an $80-a-month raise. So, as I like to say, it was one tank of gas per month, after taxes.”
Donmingo-Foraste said that faculty members will not settle until they are being given what they feel is ultimately fair.
Faculty said that they remain hopeful and optimistic about the ongoing negotiations and hope to reach an agreement that will satisfy both parties, Uhlenkamp said.
The last meetings will take place on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19.