CSUB professors may strike over salary dispute
Bakersfield Californian
System faculty received a 3.5 percent increase in 2005-06, according to the CSU.
During the previous years, state employees didn't receive raises because California was in a budget crisis.
Faculty at Cal State Bakersfield disputed the amount of proposed raises at a rally Monday afternoon.
The system has offered faculty a 24.5 percent increase over four years.
System spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said the proposed increase is fair. The CSU's salaries lag behind other comparable institutions.
But Larry Taylor said the offer is really a 14 percent increase over four years. Taylor is the president of the campus chapter of the California Faculty Association.
The system's proposal doesn't include salary step increases for junior faculty, he said.
The CSU's proposal factors in funding from the governor, which could be cut in a bad budget year, and discretionary funds campus presidents are allowed to dole out to faculty, Taylor said.
Potes-Fellow said the salary step increase issue shouldn't be part of the raise discussion.
Negotiations between the CSU system and the faculty association are at an impasse.
If they were to have a strike, it would first be a rolling strike. They would happen at the 23 campuses in the CSU. If more action was deemed necessary by the faculty union, a general strike would follow.
A rolling strike would mean students would miss a day of classes, but a general strike would affect instruction for longer periods.
Student John Hash worries that his classes are getting larger and there's less money for materials needed in the classroom.
Some Cal State Bakersfield faculty said Chancellor Charles B. Reed and other administrators aren't as focused on students and instruction as they should be.
"He's not doing what he ought to be doing," said professor Nancy Bailey. "He just raises students' fees and at the same time cuts services."
California State University professors earn these average salaries:
Full professor: $86,107; may change to $106,524 under the proposed increase
Tenured and probationary faculty: $74,142; may change to $91,722 under the proposed increase
Part-time lecturers: $43,192; may change to $53,433 under the proposed increase
How it works:
The parties are now in the fact-finding stage, and are looking for a neutral party to analyze each side’s offers. That person will join CSU and faculty association representatives on a panel.
Their recommendations will remain confidential for 10 days while they try to reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the recommendations become public; the CSU could either accept the recommendations or unilaterally implement the last best offer, including a salary increase for faculty without an agreement with the union.
The faculty union may decide to hold rolling strikes at the 23 campuses, which would cause students to miss a day of classes.
Or the union could vote for a general strike, said Larry Taylor, president of the campus faculty union.