Fresno State faculty members picket

Fresno Bee 1/25/07

By Anne Dudley Ellis

Fresno State faculty members picketed at the university Wednesday, as professors throughout the California State University system protested stalled contract talks and other issues that union leaders said could lead to a strike.

About 40 pickets chanted and carried signs in the free-speech area at California State University, Fresno, at noon. Fresno State is one of 23 campuses in the CSU system.

Contract talks between the California Faculty Association and CSU have gone to the fact-finding stage, part of a legal process to try to resolve contract disputes. A fact-finding report, which would not be a binding recommendation, is expected in mid-February, said Diane Blair, a California Faculty Association chapter board member and Fresno State Communication Department professor.

Blair said that if CSU officials impose what they consider an "unfair" contract on the faculty after the fact-finding report, the union could vote to strike.

"The faculty members don't want to strike," Blair said.

The union, which represents more than 22,000 CSU faculty members, has never gone on strike before, she said.

The union would seek to "minimize the impact on students" by staging a "rolling strike," Blair said. That would likely mean that two campuses at a time would strike for two days, followed by other campuses striking for two days on subsequent days.

Psychology major Patrisha Savopolos, a Fresno State junior, said she was worried that a strike would interrupt her education and be especially bad for students trying to graduate in the spring. She said one of her professors had told the class to prepare for the possibility of a strike.

"I got a little upset," Savopolos said.

Fresno State President John Welty said in an e-mail: "At this time, we do not anticipate any work stoppage that would seriously impact the campus."

After 18 months of negotiations, talks broke off in September. CSU had offered a 24.5% faculty salary increase over three years, according to a written statement from the CSU Office of the Chancellor in response to the Fresno State picket.

The union said the offer amounts to 14% over four years in guaranteed raises because of strings attached to some of the money, said John Travis, president of the California Faculty Association. Travis said the union's proposal called for a 26% increase over four years.

The union has criticized CSU for awarding lavish perks to top administrators. In addition, the CSU board of trustees recently approved a 4% pay increase for top officials and the governor's budget calls for a 10% fee increase for CSU students.