New CFA Bargaining Team Prepares for Contract Negotiations

In December, we announced a new CFA Bargaining Team after changes made to the CFA bylaws at the last CFA Assembly. This new bargaining team is bigger and more representative than ever, with more than 40 members from all 23 CSU campuses. Last week, the bargaining team came together to prepare. These two days included a review of the legal intricacies of bargaining and the CFA contract as well as beginning to develop proposals and goals for contract negotiations based on member input from our bargaining survey.

“We went through a lot of information from our bargaining survey as well as experiences of faculty in the room that informs the pulse and interests of our members and gives us a clear direction for what we want to pursue in the bargaining process” said Chris Cox, bargaining team member, Associate Vice President, Racial & Social Justice, North, and San José State Lecturer. “Having been through a lot of contract fights before, I’m feeling energized about our preparation for bargaining this time around.”

Another key part of the two days was establishing how the team would work together.

“I think we’re in a really good position to get a consensus with this big of a group. We’re on the same page on a lot of critical issues and that I think is the most encouraging thing that came out of this, team itself is on the same page” said Dahna Stowe, bargaining team member, CFA Bakersfield Council for Racial & Social Justice representative, and CSU Bakersfield Lecturer.

“The bargaining school was helpful and empowering. I appreciated the basic bargaining 101 training and gained an understanding of the priorities of our Unit 3 colleagues,” said Tendai Chitewere, bargaining team member, CFA San Francisco At-Large Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty Representative, and San Francisco State Professor. “I also appreciated the time we took to get to know each member of the team, we laid the foundation of a strong community which we will continue to build. What was exciting was not just getting to know peers from across the different CSUs, but through our formal and informal conversations, getting to know parts of our larger diverse and vibrant CSU community. I appreciated that, as the bargaining team, we represent all members of Unit 3 and we will work together to ensure faculty working conditions and student learning conditions across all our campuses are conducive to building strong California.”

Our full Collective Bargaining Agreement expires June 30, and we will commence negotiations on a successor agreement in the coming months. Be on the lookout for updates as we set dates for bargaining.