In a unanimous decision Monday night, the California Faculty Association’s board of directors authorized its members to vote on a potential strike. The vote will take place on Cal State University campuses between April 16 and April 27.
The CFA board’s authorization came after 18 months of labor negotiations between the union and the CSU system. The focus of these negotiations is on faculty contracts.
Brian Ferguson, a CFA spokesman, said that the bargaining process is not going well.
“Our hope is still very much to come to an agreement at the table,” Ferguson said. “However, this is a step we need to take if the negotiations remain stagnant.”
The negotiations are at a mediation stage right now, which is likely to be followed by a fact-finding stage, where two neutral parties put together a report of facts for both sides to consider.
If no agreement has been made after the fact-finding stage, CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed can impose a “last, best and final offer.” If the CFA rejects this offer, its members can strike if they vote to in April.
“Our goal isn’t to force a strike down anyone’s throat,” Ferguson said. “We don’t want to strike, but we will if we have to.”
CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said the CFA board’s decision to authorize the vote sends a mixed message in the midst of negotiations.
“The strike vote seems to be stepping ahead in the process,” Fallis said. “We’re still in mediation.”
According to Ferguson, Reed is pushing for more classes to be moved into extended education. Classes offered under the CSU’s extend education program are not subsidized by the state and cost students more per unit.
Fallis, however, said that such a move would be beneficial to students.
“We want to continue to offer summer classes within extended education, so that students can enroll in the necessary classes to graduate,” Fallis said.
The CSU has also proposed that the faculty union pay the release time for its president and political action chair, which means that the CSU would stop paying release time for the two positions when they are not teaching classes, Fallis said.
But Fallis also said there have been no proposed reductions in employee salaries, health care benefits, or pensions.