California Faculty Association (CFA) members will vote to ratify the Tentative agreement that was finalized in early October from Nov. 1-9.
The tentative agreement includes a 1.6 percent salary increase as well as $1.3 million to be released by the Office of the Chancellor in order to readjust pay for faculty members who are overdue for a pay increase.
Acting CFA President Domingo-Foraste, Ph.D. said that faculty members who were hired after 2007 have fallen behind on salary increases. This issue has brought strong support from the Cal State University Long Beach President Jane Conoley, Domingo said, “Our new president says it is wrong to not fix these inequity problems,” Domingo-Foraste said.
If the new contracts are passed, $1.3 million will be allocated to faculty to compensate for inequity pay. The money will be used to adequately address individual faculty members who have been due for a salary increase, but have not received such benefits.
Domingo-Foraste sent out a press release that highlighted many of the changes and new benefits that will be enacted, including compensation for off-season recruiting for coaches and prevention of any mandatory increase to health care contributions.
The press release also noted that these changes are retroactive and will apply to any wages earned since July.
The tentative agreement has been criticized by union members who feel that these benefits do not go far enough. Associate professor Bill Moore is one such member who pointed out that the pay increase of 1.6 percent does not match the rate of inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation in Southern California has increased by 1.7 percent since last year.
“Once again, our-purchasing power is being eroded,” Moore said.
Janousek said that if it is not passed, the Chancellor would submit a “last, best offer,” and if that still is not good enough for the union, a strike may be necessary in order to achieve the desired benefits.
Although a CFA led strike was successful in 2011, some union members have expressed their doubts that a similar action would achieve the same results.
“Getting people to strike is like pulling teeth out with tweezers. It’s almost impossible,” Domingo-Foraste said.
Domingo-Foraste and Janousek held an open forum and invited members of CSULB faculty to voice their input about the changes. The small crowd of faculty members that attended had mixed views and concerns about the provisions, but generally commended the negotiators for their efforts.
“Counselors and faculty are really happy with a lot of the gains recognizing us as faculty in this contract,” Dr. Kirstyn Chun, a counselor at CSULB, said.
The CFA is a union representing coaches, counselors and librarians across the CSU’s 23 campuses that negotiated for four months with the Chancellor’s office in order to reach the tentative agreement. The CFA board of directors voted unanimously in favor of the agreement, according to Kelly Janousek, who was a part of the negotiating team.
An additional public meeting will be held from 8:30 am to 10:00 am Thursday, Oct. 30 in room 124B of the Academic Services building.
A complete list of the Tentative agreement is available on the CFA website at calfac.org.
- General pay increase of 1.6 percent
- Rate of inflation in Southern California: 1.7 percent
- $1.3 million released by the Chancellor’s office to readjust pay for some members
- All provisions retroactive to July 1, 2014
- No increase in health care contribution
- Coaches will be paid for off-season recruiting
