CFA Members Strike Next Week

SACRAMENTO — CFA members will be going on strike next week unless California State University management presents serious, fair, and reasonable proposals to address long-standing inequities. They will be joined on the strike lines by students, staff, and other supporters.

Members on four campuses will hold one-day strikes (see details below):

• December 4, Cal Poly Pomona
• December 5, San Francisco State
• December 6, CSU Los Angeles
• December 7, Sacramento State

Teamsters Local 2010 members – who are also bargaining with CSU management – will be holding sympathy strikes in support of CFA members.

CFA members are prepared to withhold our labor to get the contract we deserve. We recognize the need to join together and fight CSU management’s disinvestment in the people who are directly responsible for student learning and success.

“Rent, childcare, groceries, and the costs of basic necessities have gone up by double digits over the past few years. Our faculty are some of the lowest-paid educators in the state. They desperately need a lifeline,” said Anne Luna, CFA Sacramento president and Sacramento State professor. “An independent auditor reviewed the CSU budget. We know management can afford our proposals. They can afford to provide fair compensation and safe working conditions. It’s time to stop funneling tuition and taxpayer money into a top-heavy administration. It’s time to put the money where it belongs, to support the faculty and students of the CSU.”

  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.

CSU management says they can’t afford our re-opener proposals, but an independent external fiscal analysis shows otherwise. CSU management has been hoarding billions of dollars in reserves and investment funds instead of investing in faculty and staff who work directly with our students.

Strike Events:

Monday, December 4, Cal Poly Pomona

What: Faculty, students, Teamsters members, staff, community leaders, and local elected leaders will be on the picket line from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at three locations. CFA members will hold a noon rally with faculty, student, and staff speakers.

When: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a noon rally

Where: Picket line at Red Gum Lane and Kellogg Drive. The noon rally is at Eucalyptus Lane and Kellogg Drive. See map on page 4 for locations and parking information.

Tuesday, December 5, San Francisco State

What: Faculty, students, Teamsters members, staff, and local elected leaders will be on the picket line from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at four locations. CFA members will hold a noon rally with faculty, student, and staff speakers. Events include marching bands, a labor chorus, and more.

When: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a noon rally.

Where: Picket lines at 19th and Holloway avenues, Student Services Building, Tapia Drive and Font Boulevard, and Lake Merced Boulevard and State Drive. The Noon rally is at 19th and Holloway avenues.

Wednesday, December 6, CSU Los Angeles

What: Faculty, students, Teamsters members, staff, and local elected leaders will be on the picket line from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at five locations. CFA members will hold a noon rally with faculty, student, and staff speakers, and a 4 p.m. rally with Black Lives Matter members. Events include a DJ and local band.

When: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and noon and 4 p.m. rallies

Where: Picket line at State University Drive/Paseo Rancho Castilla near Landsdowne Avenue. Noon rally is at University Student Union. The 4 p.m. rally will be at the Criminal Justice/Forensics building.

Thursday, December 7, Sacramento State

What: Faculty, students, Teamsters members, staff, and local elected leaders will be on the picket line from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at five locations. CFA members will hold a noon rally with faculty, student, and staff speakers. Events include a marching band, children’s arts and crafts area.

When: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and noon and 4 p.m. rallies.

Where: Picket line at J Street and State University Drive. The Noon rally is at J Street and State University Drive.

Contact Michelle Hatfield (916-612-8779 or mhatfield@calfac.org) to set up interviews with faculty, students, and staff at the picket lines.

BACKGROUND: The CFA Bargaining Team met several times with CSU management over the summer on re-opener contract bargaining. For the 2023-24 year, both sides re-opened limited articles of our Collective Bargaining Agreement – workload, parental leave, salary, benefits, and health and safety. Unfortunately, CSU management is unwilling to address systemic issues and we reached impasse. 

CFA members voted from October 21 to October 27, whether to empower the CFA Board of Directors with the authority to call a strike should it become necessary. With the authority of 95 percent of our members who voted, CFA’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to call a strike over CSU management’s failure to settle re-opener contract negotiations fairly.

CSU management has continuously ignored our calls to take seriously the profound negative impacts on students and faculty that persist because of their entrenchment in the status quo: an inadequate Title IX process, paltry paid parental leave, pay that does not keep ahead of inflation, continued workload creep, ongoing lack of investment in mental health counseling, and the pervasive environment of racism and anti-Blackness.

Find updates, read proposals, and more at www.CFAbargaining.org.

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. Learn more about CFA at calfac.org and visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.