Contract Re-opener Mediation Ends, Next Step is Factfinding

After a September 11 meeting with CSU management and a state-appointed third party for mediation, members of the CFA Bargaining Team left without a settlement. Subsequently, the mediator released the parties to factfinding. We are committed to entering factfinding as soon as possible, which will bring us another step closer to taking job actions.

We continue to demand an increase to the minimum salary for our lowest-paid faculty, a 12-percent across-the-board raise to keep pace with rising costs of living, a full semester of paid parental leave for new parents, reasonable workload/course caps, a proper counselor-to-student ratio, safe and accessible lactation spaces, safe and accessible gender-inclusive restrooms and changing rooms, and safety provisions for faculty interacting with university police on campuses. Read both sides’ proposals.

“Winning our contract means that faculty will have the conditions that assure they can deliver quality education. Many students know that faculty are working hard to educate them while we struggle to support our own families,” said Kevin Wehr, CFA Bargaining Chair and Sacramento State Professor. “When faculty cannot afford housing near campus, can’t get the parental leave we need, and scramble to manage increasingly large class sizes and caseloads, both faculty and students pay the price.” 

From the beginning, CSU management has continuously refused 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, ongoing lack of investment in mental health counseling, and the pervasive environment of racism and anti-Blackness. Our contract is an attempt to combat these wrongs and organize for a better CSU. Though management’s intransigence has been consistent, we are always willing to meet with them the moment they let us know they are ready to have a real conversation about the substance of the issues.

We know that the CSU has the resources to meet our contract demands without raising student tuition. Management continues their decades of hoarding funds in investment accounts and taking on debt to finance unnecessary buildings, misguided initiatives, and self-serving budget decisions while claiming that last week’s tuition increase is necessary for their financial sustainability. Fifteen CSU trustees voted for the proposal. The five who voted against the tuition proposal were Student Trustees Molina Mancio and Aguilar-Cruz, Ex Officio Trustees Lieutenant Governor Kounalakis and State Superintendent Thurmond, and Trustee Simon.

In the last year, many administrators realized raises up to 29 percent. Simultaneously, CSU management claims that there is no money to fairly compensate faculty and staff for their tireless dedication to student success. The new chancellor will earn close to $1 million in salary with fringe benefits of housing and car allowances. The CSU needs to do better for faculty and students.

We are in solidarity with students and assert that the CSU trustees’ vote for a 34-percent increase in tuition by 2028-29 is a cruel and unnecessary move that will make the CSU unaffordable, especially for those who identify as Black, brown, immigrant, low-income, and/or first-generation college students.

As we move to the factfinding stage of the bargaining process, we also filed an unfair practice charge based on the CSU’s failure to provide timely financial information that management is required to share with us. The financial information is relevant to the CSU’s claim that it cannot afford CFA’s bargaining proposals.  

As our contract campaign continues to escalate, the best way for CFA members to help contribute to the current contract campaign is by completing our commit card and joining our movement to obtain salary increases for all faculty, equitable pay for our lowest-paid faculty, improved parental leave, reasonable workload, more student access to mental health counselors, and health and safety for all faculty, students, and staff.

Lecturers are encouraged to attend the all lecturer bargaining town hall set for Thursday, Sep. 28th, from 7-8 p.m. To register, go to this link

Stay updated on negotiations at www.CFAbargaining.org.