The California Faculty Association held a meeting in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering building to discuss the next steps for union bargaining with the California State University on Tuesday.
According to its website bio, the California Faculty Association (CFA) is a union of 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches working to transform higher education into a more inclusive environment.
The CFA is currently bargaining for a 12% salary increase, according to the CFA Sunshine Letter to Commerce Re-opener Bargaining.
According to its website, the CFA is bargaining for many things in addition to the 12% raise, including an increase to the minimum salary for the lowest paid faculty, a full semester of paid parental leave, course caps and reasonable counselor workload and safe and accessible lactation spaces.
The CFA is also bargaining for safe and accessible gender-inclusive restrooms and changing rooms, and safety provisions for faculty interacting with police officers on campuses, according to its site.
Ray Buyco, San José chapter president of the CFA and senior history lecturer, said he is tired of the CSU and their notion of sacrifice.
“We knew about sacrifice when inflation hit us and we didn’t get compensation to take care of us on that level,” Buyco said.
After a Sept. 11 meeting with CSU management and a state-appointed third party for mediation, members of the CFA Bargaining Team left without a settlement, according to the CFA website. Subsequently, the mediator released the parties to fact finding.
According to an Instagram post from the CFA, mediation is when a mediator is assigned to help parties resolve disagreements. After four weeks in mediation, a resolution was not met between the CFA and CSU.
Fact finding is the current step in the bargaining process the CFA is on, where a panel consisting of a neutral third-party and one representative from each side, will hold hearings to make recommendations for a settlement, according to a CFA Instagram post.
On Aug. 26, Jolene Koester, who has been the CSU interim chancellor for the past 16 months, posted a video addressing faculty and staff requests from the CFA.
Sabrina Pinnell, CFA chapter secretary and senior political science lecturer, referred to Koester’s video in response to CFA demands, and said the undertone of her video was insulting.
“There is an undertone to speeches like that that we’ve seen before,” Pinnell said. “There is an undertone of you’ve got to step up, and that this is a joint problem. Then, there is the veiled threat that you are asking for too much.”
Pinnell also said now is the time to take action.
“This may be the last time we have an opportunity to take a stand and say ‘you know what, we’re not sacrificing this time,” Pinnell said. “If a strike happens, understand we are doing it for the right reason, and that means all the work stops.”
Benoit Delaveau, senior lecturer of environmental studies, said he is upset that his hard work is not being recognized as a professor.
“I have been a lecturer for 12 years,” Delaveau said. “I did everything right, and I got the minimum?”
Steven Filling, accounting professor at Stanislaus State, said the CSU’s response to the CFA salary proposal was insulting.
“They responded to our proposal saying ‘we’ll think about it’ or ‘we don’t know what you mean,’ ” Filling said. “So, when Interim Chancellor Jolene, who is the best satirist I’ve ever met, comes back and says this is about money, well pardon my language, bullshit.”
Filling also said the main purpose behind the CFA and its current demands are for the working conditions of his colleagues.
“This is about the professional and personal safety of our colleagues,” Filling said. “This is our ability to continue to do what we do.”
According to CFA Proposal #1, the CSU recognizes the importance of procedures for the protection of health and safety of faculty unit employees. The CSU will attempt to maintain conditions that are crucial to the health and safety of the employees.
Sociology lecturer Christopher Cox said it is infuriating when the CSU pretends they don’t have the money or resources to fulfill CFA requests.
“When you have special pet projects on the side as a CSU system, you cannot prioritize these over the actual day to day needs that you have for running your system,” Cox said.
Between 2022 and 2023, the CSU has accumulated an $8.5 billion reserve. The reserve was a result of the CSU Consolidated Investment Pool and cash in the state treasury, according to CSU Opengov.
Reserves are essentially money that is available to be used for a wide range of possibilities, including meeting future planned payments, unexpected events, emergencies, and opportunities, according to Market Business News.
Cox also said looking towards the future, the CFA wants to make sure people on this campus know that they are a part of this fight and they are not backing down.
“We’re going to continue to push forward, build our power and we’re going to fight the hell out of this fight, because we need to win,” Cox said.
