The California Faculty Association will vote next month on whether the organization will carry out a California State University system-wide strike in protest of stagnant faculty wages.
The vote was announced in a press release Thursday, in response to the unresolved bargaining agreement between the CSU and the CFA. The labor union and the chancellor’s office are currently in mediation regarding faculty salaries for 2015-2016. CSU administration rejected CFA’s proposal for a 5 percent general salary increase for all faculty and a 2.65 percent service salary increase for eligible faculty, according to a CFA press release Sept. 24.
“Faculty don’t want to strike, and at the end of the day, that’s the ultimate weapon, for workers to withhold their labor,” said SF State CFA chapter president Sheila Tully. “ We want the chancellor to understand that we’re very serious and that 5 percent is not unreasonable, it’s a fair salary increase and that without faculty you don’t have a university.”
CSU administration rejected CFA’s proposal for a 5 percent general salary increase for all faculty and a 2.65 percent service salary increase for eligible faculty, according to the Sept. 24 press release. CSU administration offered a 2 percent salary increase, which faculty rejected last October.
“The California State University values our employees and despite the past several lean budget years, continues to prioritize compensation for all employees,” said CSU director of public affairs Toni Molle. “A balanced approach to compensation is vital. The California State University remains committed to the collective bargaining with the goal of reaching a negotiated agreement.
The vote is scheduled to take place online and in-person at all CSU campuses beginning Oct. 19 through Oct. 28.
SDSUProf • Oct 15, 2015 at 2:43 pm
“The California State University values our employees and despite the past several lean budget years, continues to prioritize compensation for all employees,” said CSU director of public affairs Toni Molle.
Naked lies, Toni.
The numbers and pay of managers, supervisors and executives at CSU have increased notably over the past decade, whereas faculty salaries in real dollars have stagnated, and the number of faculty with permanent jobs has fallen. Here are the details:
http://www.calfac.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/race_to_the_bottom-_salary_staffing_and_the_csus_1_1.pdf
Page 4 is particularly interesting: for example, from 2004 to 2014 the number of tenured/tenure-track faculty at SDSU has decreased 11%, compared to a 31% increase in SDSU management. Page 8 shows that the average management salary has gone up twice as much as the average FTE faculty at SDSU. Multiply the increase in management with the increase in their salaries and one sees an exponential increase in spending on bureaucracy. Similar figures occur at other campuses.
CSU claims that state funding has declined, but neglect to mention that student tuition and fees have risen dramatically to cover the shortfall. Students, and tax payers, should be outraged how the CSU management is wasting their hard-earned money.