In an unprecedented move, thousands of faculty members from the California Faculty Association (CFA), representing 29,000 professionals at California State University (Cal State), initiated a week-long strike on Monday. This walkout marks the first systemwide strike in the history of Cal State, affecting its 23 campuses across California and potentially disrupting the education of hundreds of thousands of students. The decision to strike follows an overwhelming vote in late October by CFA members in favor of authorizing a strike.
The labor dispute has been fueled by months of tense negotiations between the CFA and university administrators. Since May 2023, the union has been engaged in contract discussions, advocating for higher wages, more manageable workloads, and an extension of paid parental leave to a full semester, among other demands. However, despite the prolonged negotiations, the two parties remain significantly apart on key issues. The breakdown occurred two weeks ago when Cal State unilaterally offered a 5 percent pay raise, a proposal that fell far short of the 12 percent increase sought by faculty members.
Chris Cox, a vice president at the CFA and a lecturer at San José State, highlighted the disparities between the union and management, emphasizing that the latter has focused exclusively on pay-related matters, ignoring other critical concerns. Cox asserted that the university’s insistence on maintaining the status quo is detrimental to the majority of faculty, students, and staff. He emphasized the need for improvements in working conditions for faculty and learning conditions for students for the system to function properly in the future.
The strike comes amid a broader wave of labor organizing in higher education, a trend that has gained momentum, in part, due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past year, unions representing faculty and postgraduate students achieved significant victories across the country.
The university system, in response to the strike action, issued a statement on January 9 announcing a 5 percent pay raise for faculty. Officials argued that the CFA had remained inflexible in its initial salary demands, describing them as financially unviable. Leora Freedman, the vice chancellor for human resources, stated at the time, “With this action, we will ensure that well-deserved raises get to our faculty members as soon as possible.” The university maintained that after eight months of bargaining, the CFA showed no movement, leaving them with no alternative but to take unilateral action.
As the strike commenced, a spokesperson for the union indicated that specific figures detailing the number of staff participating in the strike would be available later in the week. Notably, campuses have remained open, and the university system has not issued an immediate response to requests for comment on the ongoing strike.
The outcome of this historic strike is uncertain, with both parties entrenched in their positions. The week ahead will likely witness continued tension and negotiations as faculty members persist in their pursuit of better working conditions, wages, and benefits, while university administrators seek to address the financial challenges they contend with in meeting these demands. The ongoing strike serves as a significant moment in the broader landscape of labor relations within higher education.