While some San Diego State students may not be aware about the possible strike of the California Faculty Association, there are many reasons why students should inform themselves.
This potential strike directly affects students more than they think it does. I support the CFA if it chooses to move forward with the strike for reasons besides the possibility of classes being cancelled alone.
This potential strike is in talks due to a dispute over faculty salaries.
“There is no legal authority for the CFA to strike at this time. However, the CFA passed a resolution authorizing a strike on all 23 campuses on April 13-15 and April 18-19, 2016 should there be no agreement between the parties at the conclusion of the statutory impasse procedure,” reads a document put out by California State University system addressing frequently asked questions.
The faculty is asking for a 5-percent pay raise, but the CSU system is only offering 2 percent. If an agreement is not reached, then the strike will go into full force.
I believe by not giving into the faculty’s needs and wants, it ultimately hurts the students more than anything.
Many faculty members are looking for others jobs because they are not being paid adequately. Because of this, the class sizes will only grow larger, thus dwindling the student experience and taking away from the individual needs of each student.
Although many students are worried about the strike affecting their ability to graduate on time, the CSU system promises there should be no concern over the issue.
“The strike should not interfere with students being able to complete their semester or quarter courses and graduate on time. Striking faculty will generally arrange for assigned reading or other work if their classes are cancelled. We anticipate that many faculty will not go on strike and their classes with be held as scheduled,” reads the aforementioned CSU document.
Elizabeth Chapin, the interim manager of public affairs for the CSU Office of the Chancellor, wants students to understand not all faculty will go on strike.
“Only about 60 percent of faculty are CFA members,” Elizabeth said.
SDSU students should expect to hear more details from campus if the strike does occur. The campus would remain open during that time.
“We want campuses to know that we value our faculty and the contributions they provide to students and our university,” Elizabeth said. “The challenge is to ensure we are addressing all of our priorities — including hiring more faculty, adding more class sections so our students can graduate in 4-6 years, maintaining our academic facilities, upgrading our technology infrastructure and compensating employees.”
Although there are specific rules on what faculty members can and cannot say about the strike, I still believe SDSU should work to inform the student body regarding the basic facts of the strike and all that goes along with it.
While the talk of going on strike is very real, many students are unaware of it even being a possibility.
Whether that is because professors are not allowed to use class time to give their opinion on how they feel about the strike, or because SDSU has not wanted to raise a lot of attention around the subject because it is a looming possibility.
Regardless, students should have a clear understanding of the issues that could directly affect their education for better or for worse.
If negotiations are not met, then I will stand behind the faculty members who are choosing to go on strike.
They want what is best for us as students, so why should we not want what is best for them as faculty?
