The California Faculty Association – the union representing thousands of professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches across Cal State Universities – have planned a five-day strike which will begin on the first day of the spring semester. The union’s primary concern is a five-percent pay increase that representatives say is not enough to match rising inflation.
The five-percent increase put forward by CSU comes after months of negotiations with the union. The university recently called off discussions with CFA, citing very little movement over the eight-month process.
The CFA is seeking a twelve-percent pay increase to be applied retroactively to last summer, but university officials said the demands were “not financially viable” due to limited reserves.
CSU says that the desired pay increase would cost the university $380 million dollars per year. The university has already agreed to a five-percent pay raise with five other associated unions.
In December, faculty across four Cal State campuses –including San Francisco State, Sacramento State, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State L.A. – participated in rolling one-day strikes over their desired pay. Union president Charles Toombs says the university “gives us no other option but to continue to move forward with our plan for a systemwide strike.”
The California State University network serves more than 460,000 students across the state. The union has called for walkouts to take place across all 23 campuses. University representatives have said that campuses will remain open during the strike, and will try to limit disruptions to students.
The current contract between CSU and the California Faculty Association expires in June, when a new contract will be negotiated.
