Big Win: Tentative CSU Contract Agreement

The CSU faculty got what they deserved, a new contract that includes a significant raise. (h/t to eugene) The deal includes just about everything the instructors wanted. This was long overdue. Now the CFA members need to ratify the deal, which is not expected to be a problem.

A labor showdown between the California State University system and its faculty union was averted Tuesday with a tentative accord on a new contract that provides a guaranteed pay hike of 20.7 percent over four years for professors, lecturers, coaches and librarians.

Negotiators for the CSU administration and faculty reached the agreement after 23 months of labor talks and mediation, as well as a series of threatened strikes on the system's 23 university campuses.

The California Faculty Assocation plans to put the proposed contract to a vote of its 12,000 dues-paying members later this month, union president John Travis told reporters. If ratified by the faculty, CSU's governing Board of Trustees will vote on it.

"We expect our members to ratify this. We think it's a good deal," Travis said. "We pretty much got everything that we asked for."

The neutral fact finder was the key to this deal. Their report showed what the union had been saying: CSU faculty members were being paid much less than their peers. The "roadmap" that came out of that report was used heavily for the final accord.

This is fantastic news. A hearty congratulations is in order for faculty and CFA!