Enrollment, admission, curriculum, strike, industrial action, California State University, California, employment, USA, Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento, San Francisco
Enrollment, admission, curriculum, strike, industrial action, California State University, California, employment, USA, Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento, San Francisco
Faculty at the California State University (CSU) system, the largest public university network in America, have launched a historic strike this week. Over 30,000 staff members, including professors, librarians, and various skilled workers such as plumbers and electricians, have ceased work in a unified call for higher wages and better working conditions. This strike marks the first systemwide work stoppage across all 23 campuses in the CSU system.
This action follows the breakdown of contract negotiations between CSU officials and the California Faculty Association (CFA), the union representing the faculty. Two weeks prior to the strike, CSU had proposed a 5% pay raise effective Jan. 31. However, this offer fell short of the CFA’s demand for a 12% increase. Faculty members argue that their compensation has not kept pace with the escalating cost of living in California, one of the most expensive states in the U.S.
Chris Cox, the CFA vice-president of racial & social justice and a lecturer at San José State University, echoed the faculty’s dissatisfaction with the current conditions. According to Cox, the status quo is failing the faculty, students, and staff. He emphasized the need for improved working conditions for faculty and better learning environments for students to ensure the system’s functionality in the future.
“CSU management wants to maintain the status quo, which is not working for the vast majority of our faculty, students and staff. In order for us to have a properly functioning system in years to come, we need to improve the working conditions for faculty and learning conditions for students,” Chris Cox said.
The strike, coinciding with the start of the new semester, threatens to disrupt classes for many of the 450,000 students in the CSU system. Faculty members face the choice of crossing picket lines to conduct classes or participating in the strike.
Supporting the CFA in the strike are 1,100 CSU skilled trades workers represented by Teamsters Local 2010. These workers, too, have not reached a new contract agreement with the university.
In response to the strike, Cal State Chancellor Mildred Garcia acknowledged the effort to avoid this situation but stated that the union’s salary demands exceed the university’s financial capabilities. She highlighted the need to operate within the financial constraints faced by the university.
“We must work within our financial reality,” said Garcia.
The CFA previously engaged in demonstrations, including one-day walkouts at four campuses in December, to advocate for higher pay, reduced workloads, increased parental leave, gender-inclusive facilities, and more student counselors. The union claims that the university has sufficient funds to meet their demands, citing “flush reserve accounts,” including a $766 million emergency reserve.
Dr. Rong Chen, a professor emeritus at CSU San Bernardino and president of CFA-San Bernardino, asserted the soundness and necessity of their proposals. He pointed to the university’s financial reserves and recent salary increases for university presidents and the chancellor as indicators of available funding.
“Our proposals are reasonable and absolutely necessary. We also know that the university has the money to fund them, if only it would get its priorities straight,” said Dr Chen.
Leora Freedman, CSU’s vice-chancellor for human resources, countered this by stating that reserve funds are earmarked for emergencies, such as economic downturns or natural disasters. She mentioned that the university had proposed a 15% salary increase over three years, which equates to a 5% increase annually. However, the faculty union has consistently maintained its demand for a 12% increase in a single year.
Freedman also noted that the salary increase demanded by the union would necessitate an additional $380 million in recurring expenses, which the university cannot sustain.
“We’ve made several offers with movement, and most recently a 15% increase that would be paid over three years, providing faculty a 5% increase each year. But the faculty union has never moved off its 12% demand for one year only,” Freedman said.
The CSU strike is part of a broader wave of labor actions across the U.S. 2023 also saw significant strikes in various sectors, including the healthcare, entertainment, and automotive industries. Notably, teaching assistants and graduate student workers in the University of California System also went on a month-long strike in 2022.
This strike underscores the growing tension in the higher education sector, where faculty and staff are increasingly vocal about their financial struggles in the face of rising living costs, especially in states like California. The outcome of this strike could set a precedent for future labor negotiations in the public university systems across the U.S.
