by Charles P. Nash
Readers of this newsletter may recall that in 1994-95 the University instituted a three-month offset of the payment of faculty and staff cost of living increases (COLAs) from the July 1st beginning of the State’s fiscal year. As we documented in an earlier article, the effect of this offset is a reduction in the annual take-home pay of faculty members that can range from ca. $450 for Assistant Professors to as much as $1,000 for high-step Full Professors. For academic year appointees these losses can actually persist into retirement.
The Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA) recently detailed these findings in a letter to Professor Judith Gruber (Political Science, UCB), the current Chair of the University Committee on Faculty Welfare (UCFW). In that letter UCFW was urged “…to take a leadership role in abolishing the COLA delay; an outcome that would immediately benefit virtually every UC employee, not just the Senate faculty, while costing the State very little. It was further stated that CUCFA “…would be pleased to join with UCFW in pursuit of this objective, and to take advantage of (its) independence and (its) contacts to lobby the matter vigorously in the Legislature and in the Governor’s office.”
In her reply Professor Gruber acknowledged that CUCFA had “…rais(ed) an important issue, though unfortunately at a difficult budgetary moment.” She stated that the UCFW agenda for May was already set and very full, but that she would “…try to have a preliminary conversation in June, time permitting.” She further observed that “There is a virtue in waiting until fall since there is likely to be a considerable turnover in the committee and it is unlikely that this matter can be resolved in a single meeting.” On this last point we very much agree with her. This battle will probably go on for a very long time.