Job Security, Mental Health, Cultural Taxation at Forefront of CFA’s Latest Bargaining Proposals

Complying with counseling accreditation standards by hiring more counselors, implementing a three-year standard on coaching job security, and permanently awarding culturally taxed faculty comprise CFA’s latest push for a more equitable CSU.

The CFA Bargaining Team presented those three proposals at its latest bargaining session on November 20 with the CSU bargaining team. These three proposals fit in with CFA’s guiding values: rights, respect, and justice.

These proposals to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement put counselors’ working conditions, students’ mental health, coaches’ job security, and faculty’s recognition and compensation for hidden labor at the forefront.

“The Bargaining Team has listened to the concerns of counselor faculty across the CSU who are required to meet ever-increasing student mental health needs,” said Carrie Sakai, clinical psychologist at San Diego State and Bargaining Team member. “The Team is pressing management to ensure a reasonable, sustainable workload for counselors and adequate staffing of counseling centers at the recommended counselor-to-student ratio.

“These measures are needed to support the vital services provided by counselor faculty that our students rely on to sustain their wellbeing and academic success.”

Gabe Bolton, head coach of women’s soccer at CSU Stanislaus and CFA Coaches Committee Chair, said that job security is one of the biggest concerns for coaches across the CSU system.

“When we speak to our more than 700 coaches, the number one area of feedback we receive has to do with the lack of job security,” said Bolton. “Many of our coaches spend their entire careers on one-year contracts. Our coaches are professionals in their craft. They are mentors. They are asked to serve their student-athletes, universities, and communities. They deserve job security like other faculty.”

Unlike our third session, the CSU bargaining team did not submit any proposals this time. But that may be better news, as their last proposals were non-starters and did nothing but take away due process from CFA members. Still, it is troubling that CSU management seems to be moving this process slowly with the cancellation of two bargaining sessions this semester and still no response to our October 23 proposals.

Our next bargaining session is tentatively set for December 17. We’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, CFA launched a resource center for everything bargaining-related. Visit www.CFAbargaining.org to read negotiation updates, see CFA and CSU proposals, peruse research on hot topics related to bargaining, and more.

Members are also encouraged to submit questions and ideas for the Bargaining Team at bargainingideas@calfac.org.