CSU faculty union releases report detailing members’ struggles to pay bills

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Press Telegram

By Phillip Zonkel

LONG BEACH Althea Waites is a 21-year part-time lecturer teaching piano in Cal State Long Beach’s music department who earns about $1,400 a month. She also works part-time as a church organist, music coach and accompanist to help pay rent, make a car payment and buy groceries, but it’s no guarantee she’ll have enough to pay all the bills.

“It’s a month to month struggle. I do quite bit of juggling,” said Waites, 76, who rents a small two-bedroom home near downtown in Alamitos Beach. “I go through this every semester. It’s very stressful.”

Waites’ experiences are not unique, according to the report “Race to the Bottom: Losing Ground and Losing Faith” from the California Faculty Association, the union representing the 25,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches who teach at the 23 campuses of the California State University system.

The report, which was released Tuesday, is based on a survey conducted Feb. 6 to March 16 of 5,500 CSU faculty members regarding the impact of “stagnant salaries” on their ability to secure housing, pay for their kids’ college education and other financial challenges.

FULL story at link.



In this May 20, 2014 file photo, California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) members march in a protest rally at the CSU Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach. (Photo by Brittany Murray/Long Beach Press-Telegram/File)

Read more: http://www.presstelegram.com/social-affairs/20150407/csu-faculty-union-releases-report-detailing-members-struggles-to-pay-bills

[procon]

1. Yeah, but at age 76 wouldn't she also be getting monthy SS checks

in addition to her $1400 regular wages. Let's say the average SS check is around $1000 (mine is a little more), so she's got maybe $2400 a month to live on... so if this woman is crying poor, color me skeptical.

[Omaha Steve]

2. Depends on her work history wages or was married/widowed etc

Was she a stay home mom until a husband died? Did she have a previous job that didn't pay into SS like live in maid, nanny, etc (lets not get into that illegal practice of that) Is she paying on a law suit? Alimony? $ spent on teaching? It happens even at colleges.

Her current wages are taxable. Figure 1/3 withheld.

Out of pocket medical expense at that age.

Did you look at the report itself?

OS

[brush]

4. Many state employees don't have fica deductions from . . .

their checks as they're in their state pension system, which you don't get until retirement.

It sounds though that she's an adjunct prof totally outside the pension system which is unfortunate because adjuncts are at the bottom of the totem pole in academia and are terribly used by the institutions they work for.

They are totally dependent on how many students register for the classes they teach, and if there are not enough students registered the class is not offered.

This is what was meant in the OP when she said that she "goes through this every semester".

Since she's not regular staff with a guaranteed salary she never knows how many classes she will teach, thus, she never knows what her income will be.

It's a dirty secret of academia that a good percentage of the instructors, adjuncts, are grossly underpaid and living on the margins.

The Cal State system should be totally ashamed that a 76-year-old, 21-year employee can't afford to retire and still has to work . . . and at such low pay.

[Larry Engels]

7. The issue isn't "need"; it's justice.

Lecturers are unfairly paid much lower wages for the same work as tenure track faculty. This is true whether they have outside income or not. They are exploited workers, and they are right to try to improve their salaries and working conditions.

[CreekDog]

9. You think $2400/month is not a struggle to live on in Southern California?

Congratulations. You are not only uninformed, you are out of touch.

Even by your calculations, that's only $26k per year in a city where rent is likely $12k of that.

[procon]

10. But I do live in SoCal, I'm aprox the same age, and live on about the same income.

Realistically, anyone who lives on a fixed income, and that's probably the majority of us, is compelled by their economic limitations to live within their means. In my 20s, it seemed the idyllic lifestyle to live as a free spirit in a lovely beach community, close to the bohemian ethos of like minded artists, writers, musicians and students.

Now, I'm much more of a pragmatist, and whilst I still work from home, I can own a house in the country, but realistically, I could never afford to even rent an apartment in a Calif beach city. To each their own, but the hard choice of economics vs esthetics made it a no brainer to choose what fit within my needs.

On the other hand, the woman featured in the story made the decision to spend the larger portion of her income on a rental to enjoy living near the ocean, again, that's her choice. However, she gets no sympathy from me for finding herself strapped for cash when there are plenty of practical and frugal people who get by with even less.

[CreekDog]

12. What ignorance, she's living where she works, in Long Beach

Please stop posting nonsense.

Anyone else holding that job is going to have the same issue. And no, someone making 14k/year is not going to save money commuting to Long Beach from Riverside.

Stop with the nonsense. Stop blaming the poor for poverty.

[procon]

13. Yes, being poor myself, I do blame her unwise decisions.

There are a lot of affordable bedroom communities surrounding that area (personally, I wouldn't go as far out as Riverside, but its possible) because most people can't afford to live in a beach city. Metro Rail service even offers reduced fares for seniors, cheaper than the cost of driving and those high priced university parking fees.

If your argument is that she has to live where she works, then looking within the university system to find a lateral transfer is not an unrealistic option to find if another area offers her a reasonable trade off in cost of living that is more in keeping with the paucity of her pocketbook.

[redstatebluegirl]

3. This country hates teachers and educators of any kind.

They are very skeptical of smart people, especially college level teachers. Part-time faculty like this lady are used like servants by universities, they are not paid a living wage, the universities continue to add stupid administrative positions. We joke that before long there will be a Vice President for Men's Rooms on campus that pays $200,000 a year.

This is not just the part time faculty, the full time faculty are hurting as well. Being a college teacher normally requires a doctorate, large student loans unless you come from money and those folks rarely teach.

The stupid comment about "social security" doesn't even deserve a response. If you work hard, do the right thing and your job is teaching the next generation no matter what level you deserve better than bare bones retirement. My uncle had a better retirement than we will and he was a plumber.

I have spent my life in education and so has my husband, we struggle to stay ahead of the bills every month.

The ignorance of the American people these days is astounding.

[procon]

11. I hope you realise that a great many seniors never had the option

of a retirement benefit from their employer. I'm glad you chose to teach, but like millions of other people, my "bare bones retirement" is dependent on that same social security benefit you so cavalierly dismiss. Women, especially, often have nothing else, so don't begrudge those in need, and give plumber his due, if he was lucky enough to get a good job with a retirement page, be grateful he had a good union that secured his future.

At the issue of your complaint, is the lack of tax revenues that fund state education. In the 60s a university education in California was practically free, tuition was cheap, and almost any kid could afford to get a degree without going into debt. I paid my own way through by working as a research assistant.

No more. Universities are now forced to rely more on the students for funding, which in turn means fewer students can afford to enroll, and that results in the problems you note with inadequate salaries and benefits. Until states acknowledge the importance of higher education and take steps to fully fund their university systems, even the best teacher's union can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.

[mike_c]

5. thank you for posting this, Steve....

We had a rally on the capital steps in Sacramento to coincide with the release of the report, which was the third of four such reports that CFA is issuing this spring. All are available on the CFA website, www.calfac.org.

The rally was preceded by an old fashioned union march from the CFA offices a couple blocks away to the state capital. "Union power!" chants sound a whole lot louder when they echo among city buildings, LOL. We also had more than 100 meetings with state legislators (it was our annual lobby day). Good times.

[Xithras]

6. This is exactly why I got out of teaching

I taught as an adjunct for nearly a decade at both the CSU's (mostly Stanislaus and East Bay, with a short stint at Sac State) and at a few community colleges. I killed myself with underpaid work for YEARS with the idea that I'd eventually be able to nail a full time, tenure track position. I had this notion that "things would get better" if I could just land a full time spot. After years of working on the campuses, I eventually woke up one day and noticed that the full-time tenured faculty were just as overworked and underpaid as I was. I was chasing a rainbow with an empty box at the bottom.

So I left teaching and went back into the private sector. My work schedule is more predictable, my hours are more reasonable, the pay is better, and my life is a lot less stressful. I did enjoy teaching, but the compensation wasn't high enough to overcome the myriad of negatives that come along with it.

[mike_c]

8. I'm nearing the end of my university career...

...and I have to say I agree with you in most respects. The work load is brutal during academic terms, a little less so during summer but only because the schedule is more flexible (for those not teaching summer session). I love my research, and teaching allows me to indulge that passion, and mentoring students entering the profession is some of the most rewarding work I have ever performed, but I would not recommend this work to my own children. Many of us burn out fast. I have colleagues who refuse to serve on hiring committees because they don't want complicity in bringing others into such a demoralizing profession.