NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Facing Battle Over Temporary Help

Bolstered by fears of layoffs, the union that represents clerical and custodial workers at Cal State Northridge is preparing to do battle over the administration’s increasing reliance on temporary help.

The union, Chapter 312 of the Cal State Employees Assn., represents CSUN’s “invisible people,” said chapter president Carleen Peterson, a campus secretary. Its members include groundskeepers, custodians, clerks, lab assistants and health workers on campus.

According to both union officials and CSUN administrators, the CSEA has emerged from a period of dormancy since the administration laid off 20 of their number last year.

“In the last three to six months they clearly have organized themselves,” said Stephen Montgomery, director of personnel and employee relations at CSUN.

For the first time in years, CSEA leaders are now printing a union newsletter. In recent months, they have increased CSEA’s scanty union membership from about 80 to about 150, said Virginia Watts, a union representative and secretary at CSUN.

To protest against use of temporary employees, the union next week plans a campaign to encourage temporary employees to apply for permanent status, said Peterson, herself a temporary for two years.

Under a three-year contract ratified in May, temporary workers are allowed to apply for permanent status after four years of employment. But Peterson said few do, and those who apply are seldom granted permanent jobs.

On Monday, the union will send out 900 letters to staffers including application forms for permanent status, she said. Peterson hopes the mailing will prompt a flood of applications to CSUN President Blenda Wilson, and draw attention to the extent to which CSUN is employing a temporary work force.

The union says that 41% of the 800 members in the bargaining unit are classified as temporary. Campus administrators say it’s 21%. Pay for full-time members of the union range from $18,000 to $35,000 per year.

But both sides say use of temporary employees has grown as the university seeks ways to save money and increase flexibility in the face of waning state support.

“The budget has compelled us to use them,” Montgomery said. “The point is, it would be foolish to go out and hire probationary employees if we are just going to have to lay them off.”