CSU awaits strike vote tally
SLO Tribune 3/16/07
Members of the California Faculty Association at Cal Poly started voting Monday on whether to authorize a strike if labor talks with the university system’s administration can’t end in a resolution.
Vote results are expected by Wednesday, including voter turnout rates at all 23 California State University campuses.
Contract talks are at an impasse until the results of a fact-finding report by a mediator are released. The negotiating parties then can choose to accept or reject the mediator’s recommendations or continue to negotiate.
The CSU says it offered faculty a 24.87 percent raise over four years, but the union contends that only about 15 percent is guaranteed. CSU spokeswoman Claudia Keith responded that the "package provides a minimum of 18 percent."
Some of those raises depend on yet-to-be-made state budget decisions, and other pay is based on merit and promotions or gains in experience level that all faculty may not be eligible for, according to Tom Pinkava, a union spokesman.
Myron Hood — a CSU faculty member of 30 years who cast his ballot Thursday morning — said that he thought it was wrong for campus presidents and top university system executives to get a 4 percent raise in January while the faculty labor dispute remained unresolved.
In response to the strike vote, Keith said that "it’s their right to take a vote; we’d rather have an agreement."
There are about 350 union members at Cal Poly among its 900 faculty, said Richard Saenz, the campus’ faculty union president.
"I can say that our turnout has far surpassed what presidential elections get," Saenz said, though exact figures were not available Thursday.
The specific details of how a strike would take place haven’t been determined.
But a two-day strike by faculty at the various CSU campuses is one of the options, union spokeswoman Lisa Cohen said. Such a strike likely would begin in April, she said.