California State University, Chico
CSUEU, Chico Chapter 302
Summary of April 20, 2011 General Meeting (Pizza Lunch)
1. Welcome Speakers
 Chapter President, Pat Heath, welcomed attendees and introduced stewards, chapter officers,
LLR, Bill Patton and State President, Pat Gantt.
 Scott Dickerson read a budget cut scenario and urged members to get involved in union
activities. Being a voting member costs approximately 25 cents per month above the dues
that all employees pay. Only members can vote on issues such as furloughs and the contract.
 Bill Patton spoke about union activities and participation and asked the question, “What’s in
your wallet?” and urged members to think about protecting that by voting for legislators who
believe in worker’s rights.
2. Keynote Speaker
 CSUEU State President, Pat Gantt, reported that the $500 million cut to the CSU has been
signed into law. Campuses will now be charged with reporting how they will handle the cut.
It is still unclear how the May budget revise will impact the CSU and whether the tax
extensions will be approved (Governor Brown needs four more votes to move forward).
 The legislature continues the attack on unions and public employee benefits but we have a
good friend in Governor Brown. He signed the collective bargaining agreement into law that
we are currently under. Public employees have become the scapegoat of California’s
financial troubles.
 Cuts to the CSU will result in diminished service to students, reduced course offerings, and
increased workload for employees. For years, public education has been taken for granted
and instead, needs reinvestment. Californians need to ask themselves, ‘what kind of state do
we want to live in?’ If we want education and other services to be strong, we need to be
willing to pay for them and elect legislators who will support those issues.
 Channel Islands has announced layoffs and CSUEU has filed a grievance under unfair labor
practices, since it is a contractual issue. Most campuses will be able to handle the current cut
without layoffs, but if more budget cuts are announced, this could become an issue.
Furloughs are not on the table, but again, could come up if there are more budget cuts. If the
issue arises, the membership will be asked to vote.
 Contract negotiations begin in the first week of May at CSU, LA. Bargaining will continue at
various campuses. The CSU wanted to negotiate only at the Chancellor’s Office and
Sacramento but CSUEU insisted that the negotiations take place on campuses and the union
prevailed. 3,500 employees responded to the recent online survey and the top three concerns
were job security, protecting benefits and workload. CSUEU fought for everything in the
current contract and will fight again to retain what we have.
 Questions & Answers:
 Q: How are layoffs determined? A: Layoffs are determined by classification. Within the
specific classification, temps are separated first, then probationary and last are permanent
employees. There is a seniority ‘bumping’ process for permanent employees and there
could be re-assignments made rather than layoffs.
 Q: Will there be a golden handshake? A: Probably no. That would be seen as a gift to
public employees and would not sit well in the current climate.
 Q: How do we talk to family and friends about what is really happening with public
employees? A: There are facts and talking points on the CSUEU website and in our
newsletters. California is heading toward the bottom of the list in the amount of money
states spend on education. A qualified workforce is what brought many companies to
California and we could lose those businesses if there are not educated citizens available


to do the work. An interesting note: $10,000 tax dollars is spent on a student; $55,000 is
spent on a prisoner. Do we want schools or prisons?
Q: Will there be campus closures? A: There is no talk of that yet, but it could be used as
a threat. Smaller campuses are probably most at risk; Chico is in the middle. But,
legislators and the board of directors need to realize that each CSU is unique and offers
different services and is not like a fast-food franchise that can shut one of its locations
with no effect on the community. Consolidating programs among campuses has been
mentioned, but would probably only work with campuses in close proximity such as in
the LA area.
Pat Gantt’s parting words were ‘We’ll get through this together!’
Meeting summary prepared by Debbie Vermette.