Choosing between ‘bad and ugly’

Two California State University employee unions have opted to discuss the possibility of  two-day monthly furloughs.

CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed has proposed the furloughs, which would save the system about $275 million, to minimize layoffs. Salaries make up about 80 percent of the CSU budget.

Faculty would be unpaid and not required to work while on furlough. Under the proposal, the CSU’s 23 campuses would be closed two Fridays each month. Security personnel would be exempt from furloughs.

Erik Fallis, CSU media relations specialist, said furloughs are “a way to protect the maximum number of jobs” but that the details of their implementation have not yet been decided.

The CSU Employees Union (CSUEU), which represents about 16,000 CSU non-academic employees, voted June 22 in favor of furlough negotiations by almost 83 percent, according to the union Web site. Of about 410 Cal State Long Beach members who voted, 288 voted for the furloughs.

Peggy O’Neil-Rosales, CSULB chapter president of CSUEU, said she thought that most members supported the possibility of furloughs in order to reduce layoffs. Richard Duarte, CSUEU vice president and chief steward at CSULB, described it as choosing between “bad and ugly.”

O’Neil-Rosales expressed concern about rushing into the option of furloughs, as well as the possibility that it would increase employees’ workloads and cause students to pay more to study longer due to lower class availability.

“We were given very sketchy information from the chancellor,” O’Neil-Rosales said.

Although the CSUEU Web site said the union could begin negotiations next week, “We will not reach an agreement until we have a clear understanding as to how the furlough program will impact our members.”

The California Faculty Association (CFA) has cited on its Web site the need for full disclosure of the chancellor’s proposal prior to any votes. According to the CFA Web site, it will meet with CSU officials June 25.

The union represents CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, including 2,125 faculty at CSULB. There are about 1,035 CFA members at CSULB.

The Academic Professionals of California (APC), like the CSUEU, has voted to discuss furloughs for its members, who are CSU academic support professionals.

According to Duan Jackson, chief steward of the APC at CSULB, university members voted in favor of discussing furloughs at 58 percent. About 108 of the CSULB’s 216 APC members voted.

“APC will always be dedicated to students and committed to the mission of CSULB,” Jackson said via e-mail. “I think a ‘no’ vote indicated that people were not comfortable with the process and the timeline that was given; however, I feel most were open to discussing ways to mitigate layoffs.”

The CSU system has approximately 47,000 employees. CSULB had about 3,800 employees in fall 2008.

Yesterday both the state Assembly and Senate rejected a budget plan that would have cut $2 billion over two years from both the CSU and the University of California.

Another vote is scheduled for June 25. Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told The Associated Press that “we’ll work every day to get it done by July 1.”

In addition, a decision on bill AB 656, which would direct a tax on oil and natural gas in California to the CSU, UC and California Community College systems, will be postponed for two weeks.
 

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