CFA Welcomes Faculty to Start of Fall Term at the CSU System

Welcome back, faculty, from what we hope was a relaxing and enjoyable summer. Here’s to you and your students on a successful start of the 2022-23 school year.

Please join us in welcoming our newest colleagues to the California State University system. As members of CFA, we are excited for you to begin your journey and to join us in this important work.

CFA proudly serves as the collective bargaining representative for all faculty members at the CSU. CFA leaders have and continue to work diligently to protect faculty health, safety, and rights guaranteed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“Our union and our members dedicate our time and energy to protect and expand faculty rights, centering and extending our anti-racism and social justice work to address structural racism and inequities that shape the CSU system,” said Charles Toombs, CFA President. “We seek to bargain our contracts in good faith with CSU management and maintain the quality and accessibility of public higher education in California.”

Earlier this month, more than 100 CFA leaders, activists, and members met virtually to kick off the fall term at CFA’s Fall 2022 Kickoff, discussing initiatives needed to positively affect change at the CSU.

“It takes time to understand and teach each other to be more inclusive in the way we discuss business, focusing through an anti-racism and social justice lens allows us to truly give voice, unapologetically, to some of the ‘traditional’ ways that white supremacy continues to influence our lives,” said Lisa Kawamura, CFA San Luis Obispo chapter president. “I am grateful that CFA continues this tough work and allows the space for us to learn and feel safe while dismantling such an exclusive power structure.”

“Our union and our members dedicate our time and energy to protect and expand faculty rights, centering and extending our anti-racism and social justice work to address structural racism and inequities that shape the CSU system,”

– Charles Toombs, CFA President.

Notably, members discussed the CSU administration’s on going mishandling of Title IX cases, their refusal to address the abuse of power by campus police, their failed responses to racism, sexism, and transphobia on our campuses, as well as the recent exorbitant salary increases for campus presidents voted on by the Board of Trustees.

Members listened as this term’s keynote speaker, Catherine Hutchinson, CSUEU President and senior biology technician at CSU Channel Islands, spoke about unity among faculty, staff, and students for our shared goals. Hutchinson, who additionally teaches at Channel Islands and is a CFA member, said CFA faculty’s anti-racism and social justice advocacy helped CSUEU staff’s own advocacy with management.

CFA faculty campus leaders and CFA staff are working now on actions for this semester. Faculty leaders agree with Hutchinson that uniting faculty, staff, and students in this struggle for executive accountability is important as faculty ready for reopener bargaining in spring 2023 for contract improvements like cost-of-living adjustments and salary increases that address inflation. Be in contact with your campus faculty representatives over the coming weeks and months to learn more about the advocacy ahead.