From today’s Long Beach Post News:
Cal State University faculty and skilled trades workers have called for a systemwide strike across all 23 campuses from Monday, Jan. 22 to Friday, Jan. 26 after the California Faculty Association and the university failed to reach a contract agreement this week.
There will be no class, counseling, coaching or library services, effectively shutting down the universities entirely for that week, said Meghan O’Donnell, CFA associate vice president of lecturers.
Teamsters Local 2010, which represents about 1,100 technicians, mechanics and other skilled trades workers, have said they will join CFA on the picket line in solidarity.
CFA, which represents some 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, has been bargaining with the CSU for eight months. Here’s what they’re asking for:
- 12% pay raises that keep ahead of inflation
- Pay equity for their lowest-paid faculty
- Manageable workloads that allow for more support and engagement with students
- Improvements to students’ mental health services
- Expanding paid parental leave to a full semester
- Accessible lactation spaces and changing rooms
“I think a lot of what we hear from management is that we are being really unreasonable,” said O’Donnell. “But the reality is these are really reasonable expectations that I think anybody would have when they come to work.”
After two days of meeting with CFA in Sacramento for a week dedicated to bargaining, the university announced today that it has settled on providing all faculty, librarians, counselors and coaches a 5% general salary increase on top of bumping department chairperson pay (an unspecified amount) and “allowing for modest parking fee increases.” For the university’s part, the offer marked the end of negotiations, as all future bargaining dates were canceled.
Read the complete story here.