The California Faculty Association announced Tuesday that it is still prepared to strike if California State University Trustees refuse to raise wages once fact-finding reports are released.
And the CFA officials said they will not be alone.
The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor will strike in solidarity with the CFA, according to Executive Secretary-Treasurer Rusty Hicks. The AFL-CIO is made up of over 300 local unions and over 800,000 workers in virtually every key industry.
“That means the mail doesn’t get delivered, the trash doesn’t get picked up and the construction on any of these campuses will cease,” Hicks said. “Our workers will not cross the picket lines.”
In addition to the AFL-CIO, the CFA has requested, and often received, strike sanctions in all counties with a CSU campus.
“It seems that everyone understands where we are coming from except the CSU management: Chancellor [Timothy] White and the Board of Trustees,” CFA President Jennifer Eagan said.
According to CSU Director of Public Affairs Toni Molle, a strike would not in the best interest of students.
“The CSU remains committed to the collective bargaining process,” Molle said in an email. “The university has a responsibility to address all mission-central priorities that support student success.”
White held a forum at Cal State Los Angeles to talk with students about innovative teaching methods Tuesday afternoon where the CFA showed up to protest after the strike sanction announcement.
White is on a system-wide tour.
The chancellor’s forum at Cal State Long Beach will be Thursday at 1:40 p.m.
“This is about much more than salary — it’s about values,” Eagan said. “There is a storm coming.”
This weekend, CFA leaders will meet to plan and discuss what an effective strike would look like.
According to Eagan, the fact-finding report should be released within the next six weeks, the result of which will determine whether or not there will be a faculty strike sometime this semester.