The California Faculty Associa- tion, comprised of 23,000 faculty and staff of the California State University system, voted on a contract agreement with CSU management.
The contract negotiation has been ongoing for two years. The voting period was open to all CFA members from Aug. 13 through Aug. 30th and resulted in 91 percent in favor of ratification.
The contract comes as a sigh of relief to CSU campuses and students. CFA members voted in May if a tentative agreement was not reached in the fall, faculty members from 23 CSU campuses would go on strike, which would have been the largest strike among faculty in the United States.
Although the contract doesnot include all the CFA members have requested, the contract agreement is still regarded as a victory.
San Diego State Associ- ate Professor of Africana Studies and SDSU CFA Chapter President Charles Toombs said professors should be proud of the new contract.
“CFA is victorious because we did fight back. In the settlement, we protect lecture rights, limit the role of the president and we take back our rights,” Toombs said.
The contract, which will be en- acted through June 2014, has no salary increases for the previous and current academic years. But there is still potential in the fol- lowing two years to renegotiate salary and benefits.
“In any negotiation, no side gets exactly everything their way, but it’s the best we could do under economic circumstances,” Toombs said.
The CFA’s new task is the prop- osition voting that will occur on Nov. 6. CSU Board of Trustees endorsed Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 tax initiative and is encouraging all students and staff to vote in favor. The tax ini- tiative aims to ration state fund- ing for the CSU and potentially roll back fees for students.
In contrast, according to a CFA press release, the associa- tion hopes to defeat Proposition 32, which is the “Paycheck Protection” initiative. CFA fears if Prop. 32 passes, CFA and other labor unions will lose their rights and contract negotiations would not be possible to implement.
“In no way does this contract solve all the problems our uni- versity, our faculty and our students face to get the CSU back on track,” CFA President Lillian Taiz stated in the release. “But it is a necessary step at this moment and in ratifying this contract, our members are taking a stand for quality, accessible, affordable public higher education.”
