CFA ratifies contract

In an unusually high turnout, members of the California Faculty Association voted to ratify a three-year bargainingcontract agreement for California State University faculty.

"We are pleased that so many of our colleagues have expressed their support for CFA by casting their vote in favor of ratifying the contract," said Terry Jones, CFA president.

Trudy Goodwin Barnes, CFA communications director in Sacramento, said that the contract passed by two-thirds of its members.

The new contract follows more than a year of negotiation and was ratified by the CSU Board of Trustees in September.

"In our chapter, there was a five to one turnout," said Mike Hassul, director of the CFA Long Beach chapter. "I think it is a mark of confidence both in CFA and our local administration."

The three-year contract includes a 1.2 percent increase in general salaries for the 1995-96 school year. The contract also restores a step increase of 2.4 percent for more than 6,500 faculty members who have not received step increases for the past two years.

The California State University system also received $900,000 for performance-salary increases, of which CSULB was allocated about $72,000. The CSULB Academic Senate is working to create a committee that will recommend at least 50 percent of the award recipients.

CFA members received only one 3-percent raise in the past five years and is still behind other state employees by five or more percent, Jones said.

"California is looked upon as a leader in providing access to superb college education," he said.

"The salary and step increases will enable the Cal State universities to continue to recruit and retain the best and brightest faculty from around the country, thereby providing thousands of students access for a better education."

The California Faculty Association is the bargaining representative of 18,340 academic professionals of the California State University system.

"We will join hands with California's citizens and launch a campaign to protect education," Jones said. "We will continue with the vision of our past leaders who worked to build universities for the people."

The contract will go into effect on Nov. 1.