Meetings between the California Faculty Association and the California State University system have yet to conclude with an agreeable resolution for either side. The CFA’s “Fight for Five” campaign will settle for nothing less than a 5 percent general increase in teacher salaries.
On Wednesday, the CFA issued their fact-finding report to the CSU regarding a 5 percent pay increase for university teachers, faculty, and staff. The CSU now has 30 days to issue their own report, which a member of the Public Employment Review Board will then review.
Following this report, the CFA will enter a 10-day period of “silence” to see if they can work out an agreement with the CSU.
“I believe the fact-finder will agree with the CFA’s report,” CFA Union Chapter President Douglas Domingo-Foraste said.
The CSU maintained that their original proposition that a 2 percent salary increase is sufficiently generous. The Board of Trustees budgeted and approved the 2 percent pay raise in November 2014 and gave the final approval in July 2015. The 2 percent increase is worth $32.8 million.
In a statement released Wednesday, the CFA said “… for the last decade, regardless of the ups and downs in state funding and in CSU tuition charged to students, or increases in the cost of living, faculty pay has remained stagnant.”
When asked about the likelihood of a system-wide strike, Domingo-Foraste said he anticipates one will occur.
The strike would not be a traditional system-wide walk out. Although the format of the strike has not been officially planned, Domingo-Foraste said he believes faculty will take turns striking on different days on different CSU campuses.
Domingo-Foraste said the CFA will most likely adopt this style so the strike will not adversely affect students and their classes.
“We do not want to strike, we care about the university and the students, but CSU has been downright foolish,” Domingo-Foraste said.
CSU Director of Public Affairs Toni Molle said the CSU system values the faculty.
“In the last three years, we have invested $129.6 million in employee compensation, and more than half of that was specifically for faculty.” Molle said. “The CSU continues to value and invest in faculty and all of our employees while maintaining a balanced approach to compensation.”
The CSU also said that a system-wide strike is not in the interest of students.
“The university has a responsibility to address mission-central priorities that support student success,” Molle said. “These priorities include employee compensation as well as funding enrollment growth, the hiring of new faculty, faculty improvements and repairs, technology upgrades and investing in student services and programs that support degree completion.”
The CSU is investing $11 million in order to hire more tenure-track professors. In the 2014-15 academic year, the CSU hired 742 more tenure-track faculty. They plan on hiring more than 1600 faculty by 2017.
On Tuesday, the CFA will be holding a rally with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) at Cal State Los Angeles. The rally will follow a joint statement by the groups regarding the potential CSU faculty strike this spring.