News - Local

Published: Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009

Furloughs not ruled out by Poly faculty

They agree to the concept but want to know more details

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Employee and faculty union representatives at Cal Poly are willing to consider a two-day-a-month furlough program that would help close California State University’s budget shortfalls. But they still have questions about exactly how the program would work and its effect on their workload, as well as student instruction and services. The CSU board of trustees held a special meeting in Long Beach on Tuesday to discuss ways to close a projected $584 million budget shortfall for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

CSU officials say the furlough plan, if agreed to by all employees, would save about $275 million and prevent deeper cuts to course offerings.

The California State University Employee Union — which represents 16,000 non-academic workers statewide — has voted to enter into talks with the Cal State University system on furloughs. But the California Faculty Association, which has 23,000 members, wants a guarantee against layoffs before it will agree to furloughs, which would amount to about a 10 percent pay cut.

The California State University Employee Union has conceptually agreed to take 24 furlough days from Aug. 1 to June 30, 2010. The tentative agreement, which will require a ratification vote from union members, includes workload protections and significant layoff mitigation, union officials say.

“But until I see the final language, I have no idea what we’re agreeing to,” said Joan Kennedy, Cal Poly’s Employee Union representative. Kennedy said that a final agreement and a union ratification vote could take place next week. Officials from the California Faculty Association — the union which represents 23,000 academic staff members — say they want the CSU to clarify questions such as how the system plans to make up the remaining budget shortfall if the furloughs are put in place.

“If you save $275 million out of $584 million you need to cut you still have a problem,” said Lillian Taiz, the union’s statewide representative. “The choice could be furlough and layoffs. We want to know how many courses there will be left and how many folks will still have work.”

Cal Poly’s faculty union leader, Richard Saenz, said that his union’s local members have varying opinions on whether to vote for a furlough program or take their chances with layoffs. “The faculty are all over the place on this,” Saenz said. “Some say they couldn’t possibly live on 10 percent less. Others say they’ll meet their classes no matter how little they’re paid. I think many feel an obligation to students to teach, but some are saying to the state that you’ll get what you pay for if you keep on cutting.”

This week the CSU’s faculty union is expected to decide on whether to proceed with a vote on negotiating furloughs with the CSU system.

Other CSU employees who aren’t members of either of the employee or faculty unions, including administrators and top executives, are facing furloughs as well.

In a statement released Tuesday, the CSU chancellor applauded the CSU’s employee union for its tentative agreement. “While agreeing to furloughs is not an easy decision, the CSUEU has helped us to move forward as we address the massive budget cuts that the system is facing,” Chancellor Charles B. Reed said. “This is a fiscal crisis, and we appreciate CSUEU’s cooperation as we put a plan into place to get us through the next year and beyond.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.