Members of the California State University Employees Union will receive their first wage increase in three years. As of today, after months of bargaining, there is a tentative bargaining agreement between the union and the California State University.

The package agreed on by the two sides includes a general salary increase of 2.075 percent and a service salary increase of 2 percent, retroactive to July 1, 2005.

According to a press release this agreement means that 12,000 of the 15,000 employees represented by CSUEDU will receive a 4.075 percent base pay adjustment during fiscal year 2005/2006.

The agreement comes a week after the California Faculty Association sent out an e-mail announcing that there was a cooling off period between the two parties.

“We have talked every day since last Friday with the bargaining team,” said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed, earlier today in a teleconference.” “We are working as hard as we can to resolve the issues between the wage increase and faculty.

Faculty aren’t the only ones benefiting from a raise increase.

“As of last night the staff is getting a general salary raise of 3.5 percent,” Reed said.

The CFA called for the cooling off period because they weren’t happy with the CSU negotiators, “who attached proposals that they know are unacceptable,” said CFA in an e-mail.

Both CSUEU members and the CSU Board of Trustees must ratify the tentative bargaining agreement.

Contract ratification ballots will be sent to CSUEU members next week and must be returned by Oct. 24, 2005.