CFA Members’ Historic Systemwide Strike Begins Monday

Since May 2023, we have been bargaining for a CSU that centers student learning only to be met with disrespect and derision by management.

“In recent news reports, CSU management has only addressed our conflict over salary; they have completely ignored the issues of workload, health and safety concerns, and parental leave. Management wouldn’t even consider our proposals for appropriate class sizes, proper lactation spaces for nursing parents, gender inclusive bathroom spaces, and a clear delineation of our rights when interacting with campus authorities,” said Chris Cox, CFA Vice President of Racial & Social Justice, North, and San José State Lecturer.

“CSU management wants to maintain the status quo, which is not working for the vast majority of our faculty, students, and staff. In order for us to have a properly functioning system in years to come, we need to improve the working conditions for faculty and learning conditions for students. This includes raising the salary floor for the lowest paid faculty; a general salary increase for all faculty; parental leave appropriate to our work assignment, and appropriate staffing for mental health counselors on campus,” Cox added.

CFA Pomona member and Cal Poly Pomona Counselor Maria Gisela Sanchez Cobo is striking next week for rights, respect, and justice.

“There are so many issues within the CSU system that need to be addressed. I know many faculty teach one class here, one class there. They’re driving across their county to make ends meet – that impacts that quality of teaching, the quality of learning. And our inadequate counselor-to-student ratios – we have so many students who are facing significant barriers. They’re working, they’re supporting themselves, they’re supporting their families, many are first-generation, they are immigrants. They need our help to work through those hurdles so they’re able to show up to class and learn,” Sanchez Cobo said. “And I’m fully hurt and disheartened that CSU management increased tuition for students. It’s very disturbing the incongruence of the narrative management presents – they have no funding, but they have enough for presidents’ raises and more and more administrators.”

“Faculty, students, and staff are resourceful, intelligent, driven people. If we had access to what we needed, more students would be thriving. CSU management needs to invest in the direct providers – the teachers, counselors, coaches, librarians,” Sanchez Cobo added.

Striking CFA members will be joined by students, staff, and other supporters who are working to reverse CSU management’s disinvestment in the people who are directly responsible for student learning and success.

CSU East Bay student Crystal Chavira-Orduñez plans to honor the strike and join faculty on the picket line Monday through Friday.

“I support faculty. Seeing, in this day and age, faculty facing such disparities, such unfairness is not the CSU I want,” they said. “I support the people I look up to, the people who have inspired me. I want them to be treated well.”

Chavira-Orduñez said they and other students have noticed faculty struggling with large class sizes and low pay, adding that students realize now is the time to join with faculty to reverse decades of disinvestment in the classroom.

CSU management continues to reject our calls for:

* 12-percent pay raises that keep ahead of inflation.
* Pay equity and raising the floor for our lowest-paid faculty.
* Manageable workloads that allow for more support and engagement with students.
* More counselors to improve students’ much-needed access to mental health services.
* Expanding paid parental leave to a full semester.
* Accessible lactation and milk storage spaces for lactating faculty.
* Safe gender-inclusive restrooms and changing rooms.
* Safety provisions for faculty interacting with university police on our campuses.

For details on CFA members’ and CSU management’s reopener bargaining proposals, visit http://www.CFAbargaining.org. For more information on the CSU’s financial position and our re-opener bargaining history, visit http://www.calfac.org/strike.

Picket lines on all campuses will begin Monday at 8 a.m. Faculty are available for comment: contact Lisa Cohen at ‪310-395-2544 to schedule an interview.


ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATION: CFA represents more than 29,000 tenure-line instructional faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches on the 23 campuses of the California State University system, from Cal Poly Humboldt in the north, to San Diego State in the south.


https://www.calfac.org/cfa-members-historic-systemwide-strike-begins-monday/