Update, Jan. 23, 9:49 a.m.:
The California State University Faculty Association announced it reached a tentative contract agreement on Monday night and called off their system-wide strike.
"The collective action of so many lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians, and coaches over these last eight months forced CSU management to take our demands seriously," CFA President Charles Toombs said in a Monday night statement. "This Tentative Agreement makes major gains for all faculty at the CSU."
CFA officials added that faculty are expected to return to work on Tuesday morning, and Sacramento State announced that classes will resume the same day.
"I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately," CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in a Monday night statement. "The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability."
The systemwide work stoppage came two weeks after CSU officials ended contract negotiations with a unilateral offer starting with a 5% pay raise this year, effective Jan. 31. The CSU had also offered 5% raises the following two years, below the 12% hike this year that the union was seeking. According to the CFA, raises scheduled to go into effect this year are “contingent on the state not reducing base funding to the CSU.”
The tentative agreement calls for a 5% raise retroactive to last year and another 5% raise on July 1. It also increases the minimum wage for the lowest-paid faculty and increases parental leave from six to 10 weeks, according to the union statement.
CSU officials added that details about the agreement will be released in the coming days. The deal still needs to be ratified by the union members.
Original story, published 5:46 p.m.:
More than 29,000 professors, librarians, coaches and other California State University faculty union members launched a week-long strike Monday at the system’s 23 campuses, including Sacramento State.
Emily Bukowski, a lecturer in the Sac State geography department, was on the picket line at the south entrance to the university on Monday morning. She said faculty hoped the week would have minimal impacts on instruction but show the union is “united for what we’re demanding.”
“I think that's why we kept it to a week with a scheduled end date because faculty are just as concerned about making sure students have access to their education,” Bukowski said. “So we're hoping that by having it for just a week we get administration back to the table, and if not, we'll escalate further as the semester progresses after getting back into the classroom for a little bit.”
Members of the California Faculty Association picket at Sacramento State on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.Claire Morgan/CapRadio
The California Faculty Association — which represents those CSU employees, including the just under 1,900 faculty members at Sacramento State — is asking for a 12% raise for its members this fiscal year in addition to other benefits, like extended family leave, gender-inclusive restrooms and a higher salary floor.
This is the second strike for the union in as many months after a four-day rolling strike across four campuses, including at Sac State, in December.
CSU officials say they can’t afford the pay increase, which they contend would lead to program cuts and layoffs. On Jan. 9, they offered faculty a 5% raise each of the next three years, the first of which goes into effect Jan. 31.
“The faculty union’s compensation demands would cost CSU approximately $380 million in the first year alone and every year after that,” Leora Freedman, vice chancellor for human resources, told reporters on Friday. “This is $150 million more than the CSU’s entire funding increase from the state of California in 2023-24.”
Union officials said that they presented four offers on Jan. 8, but that CSU representatives left the bargaining table.
“After 20 minutes, the CSU management bargaining team threatened systemwide layoffs, walked out of bargaining, cancelled all remaining negotiations, then imposed a last, best and final offer on CFA members,” union leaders wrote in a press release.
In December, Freedman said that offering more than 5% to CFA “would trigger a reopening of salary negotiations with other labor unions.” This month the system reiterated that the 5% increase is “consistent with agreements the CSU has already reached with five of its labor unions.”
Throughout negotiations, faculty have said that while salary is important, they are also focused on demands they feel would lead to better working conditions.
“Salary, of course, matters — people need to be able to pay the bills, they need to be able to take care of their families,” Sac State Kinesiology professor Kathy Jamison told CapRadio in December. “But we are always fighting for those things that not only make us able to pay the bills, but make us able to show up with dignity, feeling safe, feeling respected and supported in the work that we will do.”
Members of the California Faculty Association picket at Sacramento State on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.Claire Morgan/CapRadio
Negotiation impasse
The two sides began negotiating in May and first declared an impasse in late August, meaning they had stalled due to limited progress. The start of December marked the public release of a report compiled by an independent fact-finder with recommendations for how to move forward on 15 separate items being negotiated.
The university said it was willing to accept 13 of those, including the recommendation to increase paid parental leave from six to eight weeks and up the amount by which faculty can reduce their workload upon return from a leave.
Also in early December, the CFA organized the four-day rolling strike across four different campuses, including at Sacramento State. CFA-represented faculty, students and Sacramento officials came out to picket at the university’s J Street entrance.
One change this week from the December strike is that faculty won’t be joined by around 1,100 CSU trade workers — including plumbers, electricians and mechanics — represented by Teamsters Local 2010. The union held a one-day strike in November and had announced plans to strike alongside the CFA this week, but reached a tentative agreement with the CSU system Friday evening.
The CFA says its power in the dispute with the CSU system rests not just in the shutdown of classes this week, but also in the dozens of other unions that may not be on strike with them, but will respect their picket lines.
"Slowing down construction, blocking the loading docks — that's gonna cost them millions and millions of dollars statewide,” said Anne Luna, an associate professor of Sociology and the CFA Chapter President. “And we know that there have been some events on campus that were canceled because they didn't want to cross the picket line. They bring in a lot of money from that kind of stuff [that] has nothing to do with instruction, and so we're actually hurting them in that way."
Luna said she thinks the combined effects of that financial hit and pressure from students and elected leaders will have the university back at the bargaining table by the end of the week.
"We could do rolling strikes again like we did in the fall, but we could do every single campus. We could do another whole week out,” she said Monday. “That's gonna be up to the [CFA] board of directors to decide. But there's definitely a lot of room to be able to continue to put pressure on to force them back to the table."
In a statement, CSU officials said the two sides “were in communication with each other over the weekend,” and that they remain hopeful they can reach an agreement.
Impact on students
Members of the California Faculty Association picket at Sacramento State on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024.Claire Morgan/CapRadio
Monday is the first day of class in the spring semester at Sac State and other CSU campuses. The system serves around 450,000 students every year. The CFA estimates 90% of classes statewide were canceled.
Going into the day, many students didn’t know if their classes would be canceled or not.
On its website, Sac State officials confirmed that the university will remain open, including University Housing, Library, and Student Health and Wellness Services. Students should communicate with their instructor for information about classes this week and not assume classes are canceled.
“The strike should not have any negative impact on your ability to complete your courses or your ability to graduate on time,” the university’s strike FAQ page reads. “If a professor has not communicated that they have canceled class, you should attend the class as normal.”
The student-run State Hornet news organization has put together an FAQ page for students on how to navigate the strike.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: CapRadio is licensed to Sacramento State, which is also an underwriter.
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