The California Faculty association has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the California State University system, according to a CFA press release.
Contract negotiations have been at a standstill and CSU faculty are frustrated and disappointed with the Chancellor’s salary offer of a 2 percent general salary increase for faculty, according to the release.
CSU management’s poor handling of the negotiations has prompted the CFA to raise accusations of bargaining in bad faith, the release stated.
According to the CFA press release, the compliant for the charge was filed with California’s Public Employment Relations Board on Nov. 19 and is based on rules from the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act.
The HEERA act mandates CSU management and faculty to reach a salary agreement before management is allowed to send a budget request to the legislature and governor, according to the CFA release. The HEERA act also states that both parties must bargain in good faith, but the CFA asserts that the Chancellor’s budgeting process fails to meet these standards.
CFA bargaining chair Kevin Wehr said he was dissatisfied with CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White’s handling of negotiations with CSU faculty up to this point.
“The Chancellor decided what he thought was fair compensation for faculty before the bargaining process even began, and that is not bargaining in good faith,” Wehr said in the CFA press release.
The fact-finding stage of the collective bargaining process is set to begin Nov. 23, according to the press release, which states that it is the final step that must be completed before CSU faculty are legally allowed to start job actions, including a strike.