Cal State faculties to vote on strike
San Bernardio Sun 3/5/07
It's the first time the California Faculty Association, which represents faculty at the system's 23 campuses, has called for a strike authorization vote, said association spokeswoman Alice Sunshine.
Voting at Cal State San Bernardino will take place today through Thursday, and ballots will be cast at every CSU campus by March 16, said Tom Pinkava, a union field representative. Individual campuses do not negotiate their own salaries with the system.
With faculty approval, the union could call job actions, including a series of two-day rolling strikes, which would entail faculty walking out for two days at different times at various CSU campuses, Pinkava said.
He said the union called for a vote after gauging the mood at CSU campuses and deciding that a strike- authorization measure would have "significant support" among faculty.
The union represents about 400 Cal State San Bernardino faculty members, many of whom have already signed commitment cards pledging to vote "yes" on allowing walkouts.
"Faculty, especially newer faculty, are really struggling to maintain a middle-class lifestyle ... and frustrated because they just feel that the management of the institution is leading us in the wrong direction," said Tom Meisenhelder, the union's chapter president at Cal State San Bernardino.
He said he felt CSU officials did not value faculty members as much as they value presidents, who have gotten 17 percent in raises in less than two years.
But CSU spokesman Paul Browning says the package the university has offered its faculty is generous, giving a 24 percent salary hike over four years.
Negotiations are in the fact-finding stage, which means an independent mediator is meeting with a union and university representative to make contract recommendations that fit with the system's budget.
Faculty could not walk out until after the fact-finding report is released and the two sides have another chance to settle.
Browning called the strike- authorization vote "a little premature" given the stage of contract talks. But he added that the CSU trusted faculty would try to limit the impact on students if a strike were called.
Meisenhelder said the system's 24 percent package is not as good as it sounds for reasons including the fact that a portion of the raise - 1 percent each year - is dependent upon the state giving the CSU more money over the next few years than the governor has promised the university.
He added that housing costs are a particular concern for faculty in the San Bernardino area, who must often commute because they can't afford to purchase property in the immediate area.