Biweekly news digest from the California State University Employees Union
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CSUEU AND CSU REACH NEW BARGAINING AGREEMENT
CSU BOARD APPROVES MASSIVE EXECUTIVE PAY HIKES
CHICO CAMPUS ADOPTS BULLYING POLICY
BROWN AND CFT REACH REVENUE COMPROMISE
CSUEU BOARD MEETING
“MADE IN THE CSU” PROJECT GATHERS STEAM
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CSUEU and CSU Reach New Collective Bargaining Agreement
Following ratification last week by CSUEU members, the CSU Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday morning to approve a new contract agreement. Effective from March 20 through the end of June, 2014, it covers approximately 15,000 CSU employees, including administrative and technical support, as well as healthcare and service workers.
Major issues addressed in the agreement include:
• Retention of benefits
• Control over staff parking fees
• Commitment by CSU to revisit salary structure and movement through the ranges during reopener bargaining
• Expansion of in-range progression criteria to include workload and out-of-class work that does not warrant a reclassification
“This was a tough time to bargain for both sides,” said CSUEU VP for Representation Russell Kilday-Hicks. “We appreciate the CSU’s engagement at the table, and, though we faced off on many issues, this isn’t the time to be fighting internally, considering all the external challenges we jointly face. I hope we can continue to work together to address such issues as state funding and movement through salary ranges as we move forward.”
To view a summary of the ratified tentative agreement, visit the bargaining section of the CSUEU site.
Counting member ballots at CSUEU headquarters last Friday
Tone-Deaf CSU Board Approves More Massive Executive Pay Hikes
The CSU Board of Trustees approved massive pay increases for CSU executives yesterday. The salary hikes go to two incoming campus presidents, including $324,500 plus housing and a $12,000 per year car allowance for the next CSU Fullerton president, Mildred García, formerly the president at CSU Dominguez Hills, who was given a raise of $29,500 for moving from Dominguez Hills to Fullerton.
Leroy Morishita will get $303,660 plus $60,000 per year housing and $12,000 per year car allowance as the new CSU East Bay president, a $27,605 raise. He previously served as the interim president at CSU East Bay at a salary of $276,055 annually.
The vote in favor of raises, nearly unanimous except for just three "no" votes, came during the very same trustee meeting at which the trustees ratified a collective bargaining agreement with CSUEU.
“I’m constantly asked why the CSUEU bargaining team is failing to get raises for our people when managers are getting raises,” CSUEU VP for Representation Russell Kilday-Hicks told the trustees during yesterday’s public comment session.
“This public system is in your trust,” he continued. “You are not the ‘Rubber Stamp Committee’ for administrative decisions. There will be continuing repercussions for your ill-advised decisions.”
Read Kilday-Hicks’ full comments to the board.
As CSUEU President Pat Gantt put it, “This is an abuse of power along the same lines—and by the same trustees—as the board meeting last year during which the San Diego State president received a huge pay increase over his predecessor’s salary at the same time that new tuition hikes were enacted.”
He added, “Only action on the part of the governor and the legislature will prevent the trustees from continuing to take these types of tone-deaf actions in the future.”
Just yesterday morning, the Senate Education Committee approved legislation (SB 952-Alquist) to allow double-digit pay hikes for CSU executives making $300,000 to $600,000, while killing a bill (SB 967-Yee) that would have prohibited pay hikes for top administrators during bad budget years or within two years of a student fee increase.
“It is another sad day for our students,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). “Unfortunately, the Education Committee has sent the completely wrong message. Rather than stand up for students and faculty, they protected the 1 percent and condoned CSU’s bad behavior. CSU students and California taxpayers deserve better than the status quo.”
This afternoon, we’ve launched a new CapWiz campaign targeting key members of the committee to let them know how angry we are over the committee’s actions yesterday. It provides a template for a letter to legislators that can be personalized as each member sees fit.
Read Sen. Yee's March 21 press release about the committee’s action.
Read a March 20 San Francisco Chronicle article about the meeting.
Read a companion March 20 SF Chronicle article about enrollment cutbacks.
Chico Chapter Successfully Pushes for Campus-Wide Bullying Policy
By Pat Heath, President, Chapter 302
CSUEU Chapter 302 at Chico State is very pleased to have recently concluded negotiations to enact a campus policy addressing the subject of violence and bullying in the workplace.
Read the February 27 executive memorandum outlining the policy.
After learning that contract negotiations on this subject were unsuccessful on a statewide level, Chapter 302 scheduled a Meet and Confer last November with representation from the Office of the Chancellor as well as Chico State’s Human Resources and president’s offices. It's important to note that the groundwork had already been laid on this important topic by the hard work of Chapter 302 stewards and our Labor Relations Representative at the time, the late Bill Patton.
A second Meet and Confer occurred last month to finalize specific language defining bullying behavior. We are pleased with the resulting policy and by the spirit of cooperation demonstrated by our administration in these discussions. Chico State is fortunate at this point to have an administration, including our own president’s office, that is willing to recognize the importance of developing policies that protect its employees.
Violence and bullying cannot be tolerated on any level. The effects are harmful and far-reaching. The cost of ignoring such behavior is too high both in terms of the mental/emotional affect on the victim and the potential liability to the employer. We all deserve to work in an environment that is free of violence and bullies. This new policy provides Chico State with a mechanism to address these destructive behaviors.
We hope that all campuses will have the same success in enacting this type of significant policy. A special thank you goes out to all the Chico stewards and to the memory of Bill Patton for their tireless work to make this happen. The success of this policy is an example of what CSUEU is able to accomplish when we all pull together!
Brown and CFT Reach Revenue Compromise
Since proposing his revenue increase ballot measure, Gov. Brown has been working to convince several groups to drop duplicate or additional revenue increase measures from the 2012 general election ballot.
The California Federation of Teachers (CFT), one of the longest holdouts, finally agreed to a compromise with Gov. Brown last week after months of debate.
The revised ballot measure will now raise the sales tax by a quarter cent, as opposed to the half-cent increase proposed in Brown's original plan.
In addition, it includes slightly higher taxes on high income households, in particular on the top 1 percent of all earners in California.
The SEIU California State Council favors this revised measure. Download a State Council poster (PDF) with further details.
Read Gov. Brown’s March 14 press release.
Read CFT’s March 15 announcement.
CSUEU Board Meeting
The CSUEU Board of Directors met in San Diego over three days, March 9-11, to discuss budget, policy and administrative issues.
During President Pat Gantt’s report on Saturday, the directors jointly took the California Budget Challenge, featured on the Next10 web site, which involves balancing the state’s budget by making a series of decisions about projected budget cuts and increased revenues. The group breezily balanced the state budget with a big surplus!
A highlight of the event was a Friday morning workshop to discuss working toward a brighter future for CSUEU, with an emphasis on how other SEIU locals have successfully and securely built strong programs and staff.
The next BOD meeting is set for June 29-July 1 in Millbrae, near the San Francisco International Airport.
Workshop on building strong union programs
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“Made in the CSU” Project Gathers Steam
The California State Student Association (CSSA) is garnering increasing support for its creative “Made in the CSU” campaign, launched to bring attention to the important role that the CSU and its thousands of alumni play in California’s economy. Check out their cool campaign web site at www.madeinthecsu.com.
CSSA is an independent, nonprofit student association that addresses issues affecting students at the statewide and system-wide level. It’s governed by a student board of directors composed of the officially recognized representatives of each of the 23 CSU campuses.
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See back issues of CSUEU E-News, distributed every other Thursday.
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