CFA to CSU: Do Right, Respect Faculty with Earned Salary Increases

Rights. Respect. Justice. Throughout bargaining CFA has made it a point to emphasize how our union intends to further rights, respect, and justice for all faculty at the CSU.

We began with proposals such as seeking to remedy bias issues in student opinions, awarding coaches with three-year contracts, five-year contracts for lecturer faculty, modernizing parental leave for our caregiving faculty, and addressing impacts of racism on campuses by reimagining campus policing to reflect realities of a 21st century university.  We also proposed on Academic Freedom article.

Last week, CFA presented to the CSU Labor Relations team an analysis of faculty salary which demonstrated distinct issue areas in the salary experience of faculty. The presentation also examined the health of the CSU budget, noting that the CSU is poised to receive $485 million in new on-going funding from the state, based on the Governor’s May Revise and has and will receive millions in federal stimulus funding.  This analysis formed the basis of a comprehensive salary proposal that recognizes the work faculty have done during the pandemic and respect for the work we continue to do.

4% General Salary Increases (GSIs) for all Unit 3 members this year and each of the next two years

• Fiscal Year 2020-21: 4%, effective July 1, 2020 (retroactive for work done during the pandemic)
• Fiscal Year 2021-22: 4%, effective July 1, 2021
• Fiscal Year 2022-23: 4%, effective July 1, 2022

CFA also proposed that if other employees in the CSU receive GSIs at rates higher than those set above, the CSU shall increase Unit 3’s GSIs accordingly.

Service Salary Increases (SSIs) for all eligible faculty to provide in-range progression for each of the next two years

• Fiscal Year 2021-22: 2.65%, effective on or after July 1, 2021 on faculty unit employees’ anniversary dates
• Fiscal Year 2022-23: 2.65%, effective on or after July 1, 2022 on faculty unit employees’ anniversary dates

Post Promotion Increases (PPIs) for Full Professors, Lecturer Ds, and comparable Counselor, Coach, and Librarian faculty who are not eligible for SSIs and without other options for progression in their range for each of the next two years

• Fiscal Year 2021-22: 2.65%, effective on or after July 1, 2021 on faculty unit employees’ anniversary dates
• Fiscal Year 2022-23: 2.65%, effective on or after July 1, 2022 on faculty unit employees’ anniversary dates

Equity Programs

CFA proposed that starting July 1, the CSU shall commit to spend $20 million (allocated evenly based on faculty head count) to all CSU campuses to address salary inequity – primarily inversion and compression – which is exacerbated by lack of in-range salary progression. If passed, campuses must administer any equity program funding fairly and not exclude any faculty member due to contingent or “temporary” status and cannot discriminate against faculty members.

Race and Gender Salary Inequity

CFA also proposed that CSU and CFA will jointly study and remedy any disparities in pay that exist due to longstanding, structural and societal inequities. Within three months of a contract ratification, CFA and CSU would meet to design a course of study to examine where pay gaps exist in the CSU system, and within a year, the joint committee will report its findings to faculty and the Board of Trustees.  Identified race or gender based inequities must be corrected by the CSU in accordance with the 2015 California Pay Equity Act.

“Our compensation proposal is fair, it is just, and it recognizes the incredible amount of work that we performed to keep this institution afloat, and to ensure the graduation of the Classes of 2020 and 2021—a historical achievement,” CFA Vice President and CFA Bargaining Team chair Kevin Wehr said.

Management also offered proposals during last week’s bargaining session connected to Article 22 – Leaves of Absence without Pay – and Article 23 – Leaves of Absence with Pay. The CSU proposed making it more difficult to take bereavement leave and taking away unpaid medical leave for part-time employees. In other words, part-time employees who take unpaid medical leave could find that they have no job to return to if the CSU has its way. CSU management rejected our proposal to expand parental leave from a maximum of 30 days to a minimum of a full semester/two quarters. At the table, the CSU Labor Relations Team provided no justification for the rejection, noting that our proposal was not being dismissed because of cost.

The CSU offered no data or problems with or in regard to current use of bereavement leave or unpaid medical leave. The proposals were not just insensitive, but received as unnecessary and cruel at this time, as we are coming out of a pandemic in which people around the country fell ill, died, and we all faced unprecedented loss and uncertainty.

Additionally, the CSU proposed to maintain status quo in a number contract articles, and CSU management proposed new classification codes to compensate faculty for additional and non-instructional work including training and professional development.

Check www.CFAbargaining.org for updates on negotiations and to see proposals from CFA and the CSU. If you have any feedback or want to reach out to the Bargaining Team, please fill out this form.