Editor:
While Zach St. George’s July 28 article, “It’s Good to Be President,” gave a reasonably sound overview of the controversial issue of high executive pay throughout the 23-campus California State University system, it glossed over a unique aspect of Humboldt State’s organizational culture. More often than not, staff members represented by the California State University Employees Union work in tandem with Humboldt State University (HSU) administration to solve problems.
I have been involved with CSUEU for the past 12 years. I am also an alumnus of HSU. Out of an almost half-hour interview with me for the article, St. George only used one sentence that I recall as mine: “I do believe all state workers should get the same percentage of pay raises.” The other quotes attributed to me characterized me (and, by extension, the rest of the staff at HSU) as a disgruntled state worker. Staff members here at Humboldt do our best to work things out through dialogue and negotiation. St. George’s article missed this important aspect of Humboldt State life by making me as a HSU employee sound like just another disgruntled state worker.
Jerry Saner, Bayside
This article appears in Vulnerable Part 2.
Clearly, NO ONE working at HSU can afford to be labeled “disgruntled”.
It is the term used by administrators prior to rendering tenure, union, state or federal labor rights meaningless in a wrongful termination.
Your choice is to move-on elsewhere with a pliant reputation, good recommendation, and career intact. Or, you can ensure that no other campus will hire you by taking 10 years defending your case, before being reinstated to a hostile environment with a $250,000 settlement.
I wonder how much more our public university budgets will collapse before a reporter earns their PhD exposing this statewide practice?