Thousands Of Cal State Employees Strike Across CA

LOS ANGELES, CA — After a one-day strike at Cal Poly Pomona Monday, California State University faculty are planning to continue their demonstrations at several campuses this week as their union negotiates a new contract.

One-day strikes are planned for Tuesday at San Francisco State, Wednesday at Cal State LA and Thursday at Sacramento State.

"Educators on strike do not grade, answer work emails, or perform other faculty work. The withholding of labor includes all in-person and virtual work," reads a statement from the California Faculty Association, which represents more than 29,000 tenure-line instructional faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches on CSU's 23 campuses.

The union is pushing for 12-percent wage hikes this year, along with improved parental leave, workload support and changes to health and safety policies.

Cal State officials on Friday said that while the system is prepared to agree to many of the union's demands, a 12-percent pay increase is not sustainable for CSU.

"CSU strives to provide fair, competitive pay and benefits for all of our employees," Leora Freedman, CSU's vice chancellor for human resources, said in a statement. "We recognize the need to increase compensation and are committed to doing so, but our financial commitments must be fiscally sustainable."

Anne Luna, CFA Sacramento president and a Cal State Sacramento professor, said last week that the pay bump is necessary in order to cover the large cost increases in basic goods and services over the last year.

"Our faculty are some of the lowest-paid educators in the state. They desperately need a lifeline," she said.

Luna said that while CSU is rejecting the union's pay demand, an independent auditor who reviewed the public university system's budget said that 12 percent is, in fact, workable for CSU.

"We know management can afford our proposals," she said. "They can afford to provide fair compensation and safe working conditions. It's time to stop funneling tuition and taxpayer money into a top-heavy administration. It's time to put the money where it belongs, to support the faculty and students of the CSU."

The faculty union has large support for a strike: Earlier this year, 95 percent of voting members approved a strike authorization, according to the union.