Members of the California Faculty Association (CFA) — representing 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches — will be demonstrating in a systemwide strike from Jan. 22 to Jan. 26, urging the California State University (CSU) system to negotiate for pay increases and better working conditions.
At San Diego State University, CFA members are demonstrating at major entrances around the campus, such as the Aztec Student Union and the SDSU Transit Center
Negotiations have been ongoing for the past several months, and the current strike comes on the heels of a major Teamster Local 2010 strike that resulted in a tentative agreement with the CSU.
As for the CSU and CFA, a final agreement has yet to be reached.
Early last week, CFA sat down with the chancellor’s office to negotiate several requests, including a 12% pay increase.
CFA maintains that 12% is no random number, but is intended to match the rapid inflation in California and across the country.
“Inflation has been really high for the last couple of years and much higher than the 5% that administrators proposed — it is close to 12% — and guess what, that is what we are asking for,” said Jochen Kressler, vice president of the CFA San Diego Chapter.
The CSU responded by accepting 12 out of the 15 recommendations of a state-appointed neutral fact-finding report, however, they offered a yearly 5% increase over three years rather than the 12% requested by the CFA.
“The CFA focused primarily on the 12% raise for this fiscal year and has not been willing to move from this, even though… a 12% raise would not be financially viable,” said the CSU in a press release.
As a result, CFA members across all 23 California State University campuses voted to support authorizing a strike in a 95% percent vote.
“If we were to agree to the increase these unions are demanding, we would have to make severe cuts to programs,” said Leora Freedman, CSU vice chancellor for Human Resources in a press conference. “We would have to lay off employees… the Faculty Union’s compensation demands would cost (the) CSU approximately $380 million in the first year alone and every year after that.”
According to the CFA website, “CSU campuses are fighting for better pay, sustainable, workloads, improved parental leave, more counselors and campuses that are both safe and accessible for everyone.”
“There are professors at our university who have housing instability, food instability, who have to use our food pantry, who are living week-to-week in different weekly hotels because they cannot afford to rent in the city that they actually teach in,” said Tawny Whaley, a philosophy professor at San Diego State University. “I teach at four different institutions across San Diego to make ends meet.”
Tanya Gaxiola Serrano, an assistant professor for the College of Education, was among those picketing in the pouring rain this morning. Gaxiola Serrano hopes that the strike will send a message to not only the CSU, but to the wider San Diego community.
“Historically when there’s been large movements that — at times — inconvenience people, that’s when you get to draw the attention of folks. Which in this case, is administration,” Gaxiola Serrano said. “We’re trying to get folks out here to draw the attention to administration and send a message, letting them know that we’re serious about wanting to be heard.”
SDSU classes remain in session, with no campus-wide cancellation in place.
However, individual faculty members have the option to cancel their classes this week in support of the strike. The campus will stay open, and student services will operate as usual throughout the week.
This story is ongoing.
To read in Spanish, click here.
