CSUF faculty set for strike vote
Fresno Bee 3/12/07
Representatives of the 24,000- member California Faculty Association, which covers each of the 23 California State University campuses, will announce the results of the statewide vote March 21, the same day CSU officials announce results of a fact-finding period in negotiations with the union.
Clara Potes-Fellow, spokeswoman for CSU Chancellor Charles Reed, said university negotiators still hope a strike won't occur.
"At this point we are focusing on finding a solution," Potes-Fellow said. "We know, however, that the union is committed to the idea of a strike."
Union representatives said their members, including librarians, instructors, counselors and coaches, have been negotiating for a new contract for the past 22 months. State officials recently offered a salary increase of more than 24% over the next four years, but local union leader Diane Blair said the offer was rejected because it was "illusionary."
"The problem with their offer is that they attached all kinds of conditions and qualifications to it," said Blair, who is a communication professor at California State University, Fresno. "Plus, only 14.7% of the money is guaranteed.
"The rest is money they said they will try to get from the Legislature. If the 24.7% offer was legitimate, if it was real dollars, the contract would be signed already."
Blair said a 14% increase over four years won't do enough to help union members.
"We are well below both the state and national average for educators at a four-year university," Blair said. "Offering 14% is barely a cost of living increase. Our concern, and the main reason for the strike vote, is worry over whether the system will simply impose a contract on us."
Blair said if a strike is called, it will be on a rolling basis with faculty striking at two or three campuses at a time, for only one or two days. The strike, if it lasts, would eventually roll to all 23 campuses.
"We plan to minimize the impact on students," Blair said. "We are hoping the students and faculty who aren't active in the union will support the strike."
For some students, even a minimal interruption of their classes could be troublesome.
Nicole Flynn, 23, is a senior who plans to graduate this year. Flynn said she was concerned a strike could delay her graduation.
"I have one class that is only held on Tuesdays," Flynn said. "If that professor doesn't come to class, I can't graduate."
Mark Aydelotte, associate vice president for University Communications, said in an e-mail that officials are working to minimize the impact on students.
"The university has contingency plans," Aydelotte wrote. "But the CSU is focused on resolving this matter positively with the faculty."