Thousands of faculty members at California State University campuses, the largest university system in the US, walked off the job on Monday, the first day of spring semester classes for much for the university system’s 450,000 students.
The striking staff are part of the California Faculty Association union, which represents 29,000 members, including professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches, across 23 campuses. The union is seeking a 12% pay raise, a raise to the salary floor for lowest-paid faculty and expanded paid parental leave, among other demands.
The union says its members are seeking “wages that keep pace with the cost of living and set a livable minimum standard for our lowest paid faculty.”
In a statement, Cal State said the CFA’s demand for a 12% raise, along with other economic demands, are “financially unrealistic.”
“Their request far surpasses the state funding increase that the CSU received in last year’s state budget ($227 million) and is more than the entire budget of Cal Poly Pomona ($369 million),” Cal State said.
The union has been bargaining with Cal State since May, and the university system has offered a 5% raise each year over three years.
“We are fighting against management’s self-defeating austerity policies that serve to shift funding away from classrooms, labs, libraries, athletics, and counseling centers,” the union said.
The strike is temporary and will end on January 26, according to the union.
The university system has said that individual classes, athletic practice, and counseling services may be canceled during the strike, though Cal State is not formally canceling classes and has told students that they should not assume classes are canceled since not all faculty are on strike.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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