Faculty union beginning vote on new contract
Enterprise-Record 5/1/07
The tentative agreement, which was announced April 3, came after 23 months of often contentious negotiations.
Before the pact was agreed to, members of the California Faculty Association, which represents 23,000 faculty, coaches, librarians and others, overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike authorization. The strike vote was a first in CSU history.
Alice Sunshine, the CFA communications director, said the vote will begin today and continue through Thursday.
Union members will have the option to vote by e-mail or by secret paper ballot.
At Chico State a voting booth will be set up in the Meriam Library breezeway, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., each day of the balloting.
The agreed upon salary hike includes a 3 percent chunk that will be retroactive to July 2006.
Sunshine said the union leadership has been visiting all of the CSU campuses explaining the elements of the new contract and answering questions.
She said there appears to be "overwhelming support" for the proposed agreement.
"We don't foresee any hitches at this point," she said.
However, the membership has turned down previous tentative agreements.
In 1999, the CFA members rejected a proposed contract and then voted to replace the union leadership.
"They negotiated a contract they couldn't sell (to the membership)," explained Sunshine.
Shortly after the contract was rejected a new negotiating team was put into place, and an agreement with the CSU was reached and ratified by both sides.
Results of the membership vote will be released May 7.
After the union vote, assuming the pact is ratified, it will then have to go before the CSU board of trustees.