Cal State System Faculty Reject Tentative Contract Agreement

California State University faculty members have rejected a tentative contract agreement, primarily over concerns that a merit pay plan would shortchange most professors, the faculty union president said Sunday.

More than 4,100 votes were cast at campuses last week, with 57% voting against the contract, according to the California Faculty Assn. The union represents 20,000 faculty members in the 22-campus Cal State system.

“We are 11.4% behind in salary compensation with other institutions across the nation, and we felt very strongly that before we moved into a merit pay package that rewarded just a few, we ought to do something that recognized the contributions of the masses,” said Terry Jones, president of the faculty association.

Officials representing the university system and the faculty union negotiated for nearly a year but had been at an impasse since July. The three-year deal announced in late January was based on a report by a neutral panel.

“It’s unfortunate that a relatively small percentage of faculty can vote down pay raises and benefits for 20,000 people,” Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed said.

The agreement included a 3% raise retroactive to Oct. 1 and a 6% hike in 1999-2000 if the Cal State system receives its requested budget from the Legislature.

The plan called for two-year contracts for more than 2,500 lecturers and increased leave benefits for part-time lecturers, among other things.

The deal also established a merit pay system twice as large as under the previous contract. But the faculty association has said that the merit pay plan would mean that only those favored by administrators would get substantial raises.

The next step is to return to the bargaining table. Jones didn’t know when that might happen.