CSU professors to be paid for protest day
- February 20, 2012
By Phil Matier and Andrew Ross
Chronicle Columnists
California State University East Bay professors who played hooky to protest state budget cuts – but then put in for a full day’s pay – are getting a pass from the system’s chancellor.
“Following the California Faculty Association’s one-day strike at California State Universities Dominguez Hills and East Bay on Nov. 17, 2011, faculty on your campuses were asked to properly report their time for that day,” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed wrote in a Feb. 13 memo.
At CSU Dominguez Hills in Carson (Los Angeles County), where there was a sign-in system, 359 faculty members did not work that day – meaning their pay could be docked.
But at Cal State East Bay – which relied on the honor system – only four faculty members reported not working. Another 41 took some type of personal time off.
“We know these numbers are inconsistent with campus operations that day,” Reed said in his memo to the schools’ presidents.
But, the chancellor said, CSU didn’t have the money for a full investigation into who had actually worked – and it would be unfair to dock the pay only of those who owned up to going out on strike.
Hence, everyone will get a pass.