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• Bargaining in the CSU
• Guiding Principles

Contract Development: From Principle to Proposal

For APC, the development of initial bargaining proposals is a process that always is taken extremely seriously. Far more than simply a first set of ideas for modifying the collective bargaining agreement, our Union views these sunshine proposals as communicating to the University the fundamental areas in which bargaining unit employees have concerns and in which contract modifications are needed. The initial proposals are the result of extensive input from Unit 4 members throughout the CSU over the past two years, along with thorough deliberation by the Union's Statewide Council, Executive Board and Bargaining Team. During the development of these initial proposals, APC has been guided by certain principles, central among which are the following:

• Bargaining proposals should be realistic
  Contract negotiations present opportunities to promote idealistic and lengthy wish lists. APC, however, remains committed-in both belief and practice-that all of our proposals should be meaningful, significant and achievable. Our proposals therefore are not idealistic, but rather are realistic proposals on issues that we believe must be addressed in a successor agreement. Some proposals are more crucial than others, but no proposal is unimportant.

• Budget realities should be respected
  APC fully recognizes the seriousness of the fiscal situation, and the resulting constraints, confronting the CSU, and we therefore are not presenting proposals based on unrealistic budgetary expectations. Proposals with fiscal implications are extremely modest, and most of our proposals focus on non-economic issues.

• Quality of employment should be enhanced
  Improvements in job security and due process are fundamental needs of unit employees. In times of limited compensation increases, the security and quality of employment- especially as experienced by employees themselves-become even more significant, and therefore are more important than usual to address in bargaining.

• Best employment practices should be emulated
  Building on the CSU leadership's expressed commitment to the principle of parity, we have included in our proposals certain best employment practices as reflected in other CSU contracts. We recognize, of course, that parity does not always mean that exactly the same provision from another contract should be included in ours. Moreover, we have not simply compiled a list of every provision from other contracts that we would like to have included in ours; rather, we have carefully selected those that are most relevant and important to Unit 4 employees.

• Employees should be appropriately compensated
  Even in challenging budgetary times, it remains important for both APC and the CSU to strive to ensure that employees receive those compensation increases and augmentations that are appropriate and feasible. We have sought to identify some creative approaches to achieve this goal with little or no newly appropriated funding from the Legislature.

These principles have informed APC's initial proposals, and these principles will continue to guide the Union throughout negotiations for a successor agreement.