Despite pouring rain across most of the state, California State University faculty members hit the picket lines Monday morning in the first day of a planned five-day strike.
For months, the California Faculty Association, which represents 29,000 CSU faculty members throughout the state, has been in talks with the university, asking for a 12% raise, higher base pay for the lowest-earning staff and expanded parental leave, among other demands.
California State University is one of the largest public university systems in the nation and includes San Jose State, San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay in Hayward. The union’s contract is set to expire in June.
Jennifer Eagan, faculty rights chair for Cal State East Bay, called the strike “historic” and said the messaging coming from the chancellor’s office over contract negotiations has been “draconian,” with threats of layoffs and docked pay.
“We’re really intent on getting a salary increase that keeps us in pace with inflation,” she said. “It feels like our work load is going up and our pay given inflation is going down. All of us here, we want to serve our students.”
In a statement posted to the CSU website Monday morning, the university system said that they were in communication with the union over the weekend, but said it would not be discussing “any details of those communications.”
“We respect the rights of the faculty union and their members to engage in strike activity and remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the California Faculty Association for the sake of our students, faculty, the system and the state,” the statement said.
All 23 campuses will remain open this week, but CSU said that “individual faculty members who decide to strike will cancel their own classes.”
CSU’s latest offer includes a 15% raise over three years — 5% each year — and two more weeks of paid parental leave, bringing the total up to eight weeks. CSU said that the union’s demand for a 12% raise would cost the university system $312 million this year, and that an increase in life insurance and raising the base pay for the lowest-paid faculty members would add an additional $68 million to that cost.
“This is financially unrealistic,” CSU’s statement said. “Their request far surpasses the state funding increase that the CSU received in last year’s state budget ($227 million) and is more than the entire budget of Cal Poly Pomona ($369 million).”
At Cal State East Bay’s campus, about 80 union members gathered, blocking one of the main entrances to campus as the rain started to clear. Faculty members — and one brown poodle — wore red ponchos and marched holding signs reading “faculty working conditions are student working conditions,” and “stop hoarding billions, fund the CSU.”
Jim Murray, a professor at Cal State East Bay and the chair of membership and organizing, said he was “disappointed” the negotiations had come to this.
“The reason I’m out here is that our assistant professors and our lecturers can’t afford to live,” he said. “We pay them less than the UC’s, less than the community colleges. It’s a huge challenge.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.