Cal State University faculty will strike at the university system’s Dominguez Hills and East Bay campuses Nov. 17, as the CSU and California Faculty Association continue to butt heads over compensation.
The one-day strike will cancel classes at the two campuses but other campuses, like Cal State Long Beach, will not be affected, the union said.
The CFA’s current contract, ratified in June 2006 and extended past its June 2010 expiration, included faculty pay raises but a renegotiation clause allowed the CSU to block the raises based on economic conditions.
CFA President Lillian Taiz said that although the strike is motivated by faculty compensation, this issue represents much broader problems with the CSU.
In most cases, the CFA is legally allowed to strike on issues that have gone through a 7-step collective bargaining process.
The faculty union, which is currently also negotiating a successor contract with the CSU, has repeatedly said that Chancellor Charles B. Reed favors executive compensation at the expense of the university system’s students and faculty.
But the CSU maintains that while faculty have received about $32 million in general salary increases — a $31.3 million increase in 2008 and a $700,000 increase in 2010 — management personnel employees have not received a single general salary increase since 2007.
To be sure, the CFA is not asking for another general salary increase but $20 million for an eligible 40 percent of faculty, according to the CSU.
“Repeatedly [Chancellor Reed] has failed to respond to the language of reason or the power of facts,” Taiz said in statement announcing the union’s plan to strike. “We hope this carefully targeted strike, which symbolizes both our anger and our commitment to fairness, will lead to changes in his priorities and his positions.”
“If it does not, the CFA leadership — and the CSU faculty we represent — is prepared to escalate the fight.”
But Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesman, says faculty strikes will only harm students.
“We do not see that putting students in the middle of labor negotiations is a good thing,” he said.
Although the CFA believes its goals are in line with those of students, some disagree.
“[Faculty] are not looking out for the interest of their students,” Eduardo Avila, a senior health care administration major, said. “It’s more about them.”
Others, however, say it’s CFA’s right to strike.
“If there’s anyone to blame it should be [the CSU],” said Margarita Beltran, a senior civil engineering major.
And, some just see it as a good way to get out of class.
“I don’t care, its cool to get the day off but I’d probably be there since I’m paying for it,” said Jessica Kelly, a junior psychology major.
Leslie Campos contributed to this report.
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