CSU Faculty Union Votes To Authorize Strike

The California Faculty Association (CFA), a union representing faculty members at California State University (CSU) schools, voted to allow strike authorization on Monday.

For the past two years, California, as well as the country as a whole, has seen a growing number of strikes and strike authorizations. Education hasn’t been an exception, although most strikes have been at the city level, with Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and others striking or narrowly avoiding strikes primarily over pay due to high cost of living increases. Late last year, University of California (UC) student worker faculty also went out on strike, picketing for about a month until a deal was reached just before Christmas.

Over the summer, CFA began negotiating a new contract with CSU, hoping to avoid yet another strike in the state. CSU faculty, who are currently paid on average $99,000 for full-time work,$67,000 for part-time work, and just above $50,000 for lecturers, asked for a 12% across-the-board raise. CSU countered with a 5% raise. By August, both sides stopped talking due to a lack of progress, inviting in an independent arbiter who has yet to make a ruling.

“When our re-opener bargaining campaign began on May 1^st – International Workers’ Day – we asserted that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions,” said CFA treasurer Vang Vang in a statement. “Our aspirational contract demands insist that our students deserve better, that our faculty deserve better.”

This month, calls for a strike grew more serious. CFA faculty members at all 23 CSU campuses released a list of demands. In addition to the pay raise, they also asked for pay equity, more manageable work loads, more mental health counselors, extended paid parental leave, lactating facilities for faculty with babies, and gender-inclusive restrooms. Despite CSU still showing willingness to talk with the union over the issues, the CFA instead announced a vote on if the union could authorize a strike.

On Monday, members voted, with 95% of CFA members voting in favor of a strike. Although the union didn’t disclose just how many union members voted, the amount was enough for the union to announce that a strike could now occur at any time.

A possible strike

“Cal State voters voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, if necessary,” said CFA president Charles Toombs. “Members are emphatic that low pay, growing workloads, and systematic inequalities are not sustainable.”

In response, CSU noted that they had recently come to deals with 5 other employee unions, and that they would remain committed to reaching a deal with the CFA as well.

“The CSU remains committed to the collective bargaining process and reaching a negotiated agreement with the CFA as we have done with five of our other employee unions in recent weeks,” added CSU spokeswoman Hazel Kelly.

While a strike is unlikely to happen before November 7th, when the union plans to give their demands to the CSU Board of Trustees at a meeting in Long Beach, experts say that a strike is still very possible.

John Waithe, a Chicago-based higher education researcher, told the Globe on Monday that “Like pretty much every strike, the main crux of this has been about pay. 12% and 5% is a big difference. And, in California, cost of living in L.A. and the Bay is way different than, say, extreme Northern California or the Inland Empire. An across the board pay raise makes little sense when looking at that, but the union isn’t.”

“But a pay raise will happen. And many of their demands are reasonable, so negotiations shouldn’t be all that hard. The CFA just needs to compromise to make this happen. Right now, they have been very unwilling. I’m not sure if this will come to a strike or not, because if it does, students will get very mad very fast. And neither side wants that. The colleges don’t want the resentment, and teachers don’t want to be hated on by students. This is just an authorization vote too. There is still time. This is just a warning shot.”

The CSU Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach is due to be held on November 7th, with a report by the arbiter to be released soon as well.