California Faculty Association: On strike, shut it down!
CFA members on strike in December at Cal Poly Pomona (photo CFA website)
The California Faculty Association, a union covering the 23 campuses of the California State University system, is pushing back against the non-response of CSU administration at the bargaining table. Negotiations began this summer. As of California Red copy deadline, picket lines are expected to go up at all campuses first thing on Monday morning, January 22.
CFA’s demands include:
A 12% pay increase for all faculty
A full semester of paid parental leave
pay equity for lowest-paid faculty
safe and accessible lactation spaces
safe and accessible gender-inclusive restrooms and changing rooms, and
the limiting of police power on campuses.
First, a one-day strike with DSA support
The CSU’s response of a 5% pay raise and persistent rejection of other demands precipitated a one-day strike across four campuses in December, including San Francisco, Pomona, LA, and San Diego. DSA and YDSA support for these labor actions was strong and well appreciated. Bottom line, this spirit has been shown through tabling, phone-banking, and union building, and fight-back efforts with picket-line participation and presence at CSU Board meetings. Our message: we are in; faculty and students are not alone!
At San Francisco State, YDSA member Cami Dominguez reports that she sees the big picture of this contract struggle as an example for other faculty and unions, and DSA’s solidarity with the wider struggles of class action. Cami was part of a scab patrol that confronted a faculty member conducting a class during picketing. She and other strikers spoke to both the faculty member and students present about the problem of crossing a picket line. Cami also remarked that participating in the strike “changed the dynamic we had with faculty”, seeing this as a “united effort” to maintain a positive learning environment.
DSA aligns itself with rank-and-file causes and action, such as this strike, and sees its involvement as integral to a class struggle on campus and building solidarity among students, faculty, and socialists. “We are not going to be quiet about being socialists,” commented Ellie Gomez, with whom I spoke in the SF DSA office.
Full week of strikes coming
More labor actions are in the works. There will be a full week of CFA strikes across the entire system January 22-26. Because the SFSU campus does not begin classes until January 29, it will do informational picketing and leafleting for those faculty there during strike week, support picketing at East Bay and San Jose campuses, and promote pro-labor syllabi for faculty during the first week of classes. This may be the largest higher-education faculty strike in US history.
Teamster Local 2010 members who work for the university were planning to strike alongside the faculty for their own demands, but settled on January 19. Although its contract does not allow sympathy strikes, the local is encouraging its members to honor the faculty picket lines.
Picket lines on all campuses will go up Monday at 8 a.m. If you’d like to join in, go to the CFA web page to sign up. The CFA Executive Board welcomes the ongoing contribution by DSA and YDSA as a vital element towards its success in fighting for its members.