In Response to President Gonzalez message:

Colleagues,

President Gonzalez forwarded the Chancellor's Office press release about the fact finding report on salary re-negotiations for 2008-09. I find this press release to be intentionally misleading. CFA has a long response included in a special edition of "Headlines" on 4/16 that fully explains the report and gives a PDF version if you care to read the whole thing (If you missed it, you can find it at www.calfac.org). I would like to make a few short points to clarify the fact finding report and the union's position.

The fact finding report came to three conclusions:

• The CSU Chancellor should pay faculty members increases in the Equity Pay Program that were negotiated for the 2008/09.

• The CSU Chancellor should pay faculty members service salary increases (SSIs) in cases in which the SSI would address salary inversion and compaction.

• No general salary increases should be paid.

The Union agrees with the first two points, and grudgingly acceded to the last given the fiscal situation of the state.

It does not conclude that no SSIs should be paid, but SSIs should be paid as they were part of the equity program. The Equity Pay Program, as explained in the report, is “to be used to alleviate salary inequities compared to peer groups.” Distributions in the prior 2007/08 year went to Assistant Professors and equivalent Librarian, Coach and Counselor ranks. The 2008/09 distributions would have gone to Associate and Full Professors and equivalent ranks. The union has always held that the equity program should be fully funded and paid, including the rollover funds from year one ($1.7M).

This recommendation on Equity Pay is meant “to resolve a mutually recognized management problem to pay employees based on their achievements and experience as demanded by fairness, equity and morale ‘for recruitment and retention of professionally trained and highly skilled employees’ to aid the University, in these most difficult of times, to seek to educate its students to the greatest degree resources will allow.” The report noted that the Chancellor’s negotiators did not give an argument for why the Equity Pay should not be provided: "…as noted, the CSU did not explain why [the equity program] would be left uncompleted, particularly where only half-implemented, it exacerbated, rather than resolved, the very problems the program was to fix.”

I find this to be a compelling case, and it saddens me that the CSU administration refuses to pay out these negotiated salary increases which are so important for fairness and morale in these difficult times.

In Union,

Kevin Wehr

President, CFA Capitol Chapter

Associate Prof. Dept. of Sociology

CSU Sacramento