With a chronically ill spouse, dry-rotting home, old furniture and a broken air conditioner, Sara Joslin had to take out a home equity loan and get a second job just to keep up.

She hasn’t had a raise in three years.

Joslin is the administrative support coordinator for the Computer Science Department at Sacramento State.

Her story of fighting to make ends meet and needing a second job is not uncommon among Sac State’s staff.

She claimed that many of the staff are ready to walk off the job. Some already have, going to places where they can make more money.

In addition to a lack of pay raises, there has been an increase in the amount and the complexity of the work, largely caused by the controversial PeopleSoft software.

The staff, members of the California State University Employees Union, received its last raise, which was 1.5 percent, in July 2002.

Cristi Hunter,instructional support tech I for the Department of Anthropology, called this raise a “slap in the face” in a letter to California State University Chancellor Charles Reed dated Nov. 12, 2004.

There is the possibility of a 3.5 percent pay raise in the new state budget, but staff salaries will still be 8.8 percent below the increase given to social security if the full amount is given.

The staff has organized to fight for better pay.

Since August of last year, a petition has been circulated, which as of last week had 242 signatures, 79 of which are from faculty who have no financial stake in the effort.There have been two mailings to Reed, in September and November of last year, asking for help.

Joslin was invited to speak at the CSU board meeting on Jan. 26. She gave a six-minute speech detailing the staff’s grievances to which she felt that several board members listened intently, but Reed ignored her.

This prompted her to send a letter last week to five state legislators in which she wrote, “Ignoring the needs of the staff in order to balance the CSU budget is akin to burning down the walls of a house in order to keep it warm.”

Clara Potes-Fellow, spokeswoman for the Chancellor’s Office, said, “There is a process for salary raises that needs to be negotiated when the union negotiates with CSU.”

She could not comment on whether Reed paid attention during Joslin’s speech because she was not present, but said, “If the chancellor didn’t pay attention, it is because that is not the proper vehicle for bringing up raises.”

She claimed that the reason there have been no raises is that “the budget has not provided for salary increases in the past three years.”

Any raises that have been awarded in that time were previously negotiated and bound by contract.

She also said that Reed is working with the state legislature to address the budget issue.The problem, however, is an old one.

Suzanne Abshire, an assistant to the Computer Engineering Department, has worked for the CSU system for 18 years. In that time, she has received a total of $8.70 in raises, or 48 cents per year.

Joslin fears for the future of the CSU system. Without any incentive to keep trained people on the job, she feels that students will suffer and the system will fail.