As negotiations for a new contract come to a halt, members of the California Faculty Association and the California State University Employees Union question whether negotiators for the California State University system will ever accept their proposals.

“We are all just asking to be treated with respect,” said Cecil Canton, Sacramento State chapter president of the Faculty Association. “We’re all just asking for raises.”

The Faculty Association is asking for some changes in working conditions and salary, Canton said.

Negotiators from all sides met last Wednesday and Thursday, but were unsuccessful in their pursuits.

Members of the Employees Union and Sac State staff said their current proposal of a three-year contract with raises every year is fair and overdue.

“President (Alexander) Gonzalez got a large pay increase last year and the CSU can’t even meet our basic cost-of-living demands,” said Darlene Monroe, the financial coordinator for housing. “The only reason I got a raise is because I was able to move up the ladder, and that’s a fairly common reaction when it comes to salary increases.”

The CSU’s current proposal of a 3 percent salary pool with a 2 percent cost-of-living increase, has yet to be accepted by the Employees Union.

Monroe said the CSU’s cost-of-living offer, with the 1 percent service increase, doesn’t meet the actual 4 percent cost-of-living.

Pat Gantt, California State University Employees Union president, said the Faculty Association and staff will not take anything less than a 4 percent cost-of-living increase.

“We’re basically just trying to keep up with the cost of living and inflation,” Gantt said.

The last offer made to the Faculty Association proposed a 24.87 percent salary increase, to be distributed over the course of four years.

California Faculty Association members declined the offer because they said they feel the 24.87 percent was a far cry from their original request of 30.45 percent.

“The 24 percent doesn’t work because we are already behind other states by 25 percent,” Canton said.

” I wouldn’t want to come into the system now and look forward to becoming a full professor who is going to be paid three quarters of what anybody else is going to be paid, especially for doing more work,” Canton said. It’s gotten to the point where first prize is a 15 percent reduction of pay, second prize is a 25 percent reduction in pay, this is why we are fighting so hard.”

Under the CSU proposal, equity increases would range from an additional 3 percent to 18 percent over the three-year contract period for those classifications identified as lagging the market, according to a letter sent out to all faculty members on behalf of President Gonzalez’s office.

However, this offer is contingent upon the CSU receiving funding from the proposed compact with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Paul Browning, a spokesperson for the chancellor’s office said the next logical step is to declare impasse.

“The CSU has asked the Public Employees Relations Board to certify a declaration of impasse because we feel that it is our only option to move forward,” Browning said. ” In general the CSU is really disappointed that it has come to this because we feel that the offer is generous.”

Clara Potes-Fellow, a spokesperson for the CSU, said the CSU is disappointed in how negotiations are going with both parties, especially the Faculty Association.

“We are all disappointed because the CSU has made a very attractive offer,” Potes-Fellow said. “Unfortunately, the (Faculty Association) has not let the faculty look at the offer, but instead just rejected it.”

But a faculty member said they did see the offer.

“We were informed about the CSU’s offer by email,” said Wendy Matlock an assistant professor of English. “We didn’t get to decide on whether the offer was accepted but we were notified that one was made.”

To have the promise of almost a 25 percent salary increase in only four years is a great offer, Potes-Fellow said.

“In addition the CSU faculty has the best dental and health benefits in the nation,” Potes-Fellow said. “If the union had agreed the faculty would have gotten the salary increase immediately, now they’ll have to wait six months or more.”

After nearly 18 months of negotiations the CSU has come to the point of declaring impasse, a process which can take up to two years to settle, Browning said.

For faculty members like Canton, there’s more at stake than time crunches and salary increases.

Canton said faculty and staff don’t want to come to the CSU’s anymore, if they have a choice, because they want to work where the there are higher salaries and lighter work loads.

And the result contracts between faculty and the CSU affects students, Canton said.

“Is the quality of instruction going to be affected? Is the quality of the academic experience going to be affected? How about the quality of work the students are doing? The answer is yes, it is all going to be affected, and, in the end, it’s the university and the students who are really going to lose,” Canton said.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]