The faculty union and the Cal State University system announced a tentative settlement Tuesday in their long simmering contract dispute, boosting professors' pay by at least 20.7% over four years and averting threatened walkouts at the 23 campuses across the state.
Both sides predicted that the new contract would be ratified over the next few weeks and that labor peace would be restored to the nation's largest four-year university system, which enrolls about 417,000 students.
"We didn't get everything we wanted, but we got close to everything we wanted," said John Travis, the Humboldt State political science professor who is president of the California Faculty Assn.
His union had been planning a series of two-day rolling strikes starting next week but put those on hold pending what he said was the high likelihood of contract approval.
Charles B. Reed, chancellor of the Cal State system, said he was pleased with the agreement and expected the university's Board of Trustees to approve it.
"I hope this contract will be good for everybody, and we will put this behind us and go forward," Reed said.
The labor standoff had been getting unusually heated for academia. Cal State trustees had complained that union activists were vilifying Reed and were frightening students with the strike threat. The faculty, on the other hand, were furious about what they saw as wildly overgenerous and secretive perks for executives.
The new contract calls for the 24,000 professors, librarians, counselors and coaches to receive raises that would total 20.7%, in phases retroactive to July 2006 and through 2010. Then, various groups of them will get additional raises, based on merit, seniority and new steps created in their pay ladders.
As a result, the typical faculty member will wind up with a total of 23% to 25%, although some might receive more than a 31% raise over the four years, according to the union.
Plus, the administration and the faculty said they would ask the Legislature to add 1% for each of the next three years.
Lecturers, who teach a large portion of Cal State classes, would see their average annual pay rise in two categories to about $54,000 and $66,222 if they can find a full load of teaching. Average salaries for assistant and associate professors on the tenure track would rise to $90,749 and for full professors to $105,465, according to the university.
