Some San Jose State faculty and student supporters assembled Tuesday to campaign for pay raises as the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees met in Long Beach to discuss faculty contract negotiations.
In front of the Olympic Black Power Statue on campus, 26 California Faculty Association (CFA) members participated in the call to action, which included speeches, chants and a march around Tower Hall.
The CFA is a collective bargaining organization for 24,000 CSU tenure-track faculty, coaches, counselors, librarians and lecturers, according to SJSU’s CFA website.
Nikos Mourtos, aerospace engineering chair, professor and SJSU CFA chapter president, said the faculty union is bargaining for a 4% retroactive raise for 2020, a 4% wage increase for this year and 4% for 2022.
“We’re hoping to put pressure on our chancellor to settle the contract,” Mourtos said before the demonstration began. “We want [the board of trustees] to be aware that we need a contract as soon as possible, and we will continue these activities until we get a fair contract.”
CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro only agreed to a 2% faculty raise for the 2021-22 year, according to a Nov. 1 CFA news release.
Mourtos said union members are holding demonstrations at each of the 23 CSU campuses while a few statewide representatives will speak at the trustee meeting.
“The CSU basically has not shown any indications that the wellbeing of the faculty is a priority in their budget. All we’ve gotten so far is lip service,” he said. “What is really offensive is knowing that the budget has been fully restored and [the] CSU administration simply does not want to prioritize faculty in terms of how they spend their money.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state’s “historic budget surplus” of $75 billion on May 14 which allowed him to increase the previously cut budgets for California’s public colleges and universities, according to a May 14 Los Angeles Times article.
Jonathan Karpf, an emeritus anthropology lecturer, CFA member since 1990 and current retirement specialist for the statewide union, said the CSU’s refusal to meet faculty demands has led to an impasse.
“They are rolling in dollars but they are not treating the faculty with respect that we deserve,” Karpf said. “We made proposals and they don’t make counter-proposals. That’s the definition of impasse.”
He said if the CSU and CFA don’t reach a beneficial compromise, faculty members will strike.
“We’d rather bargain a new contract than have to engage in a strike,” Karpf said. “None of us want to strike but if we’re pushed to it, we will shut down the system and we’ve proved we can do it.”
Sharmin Khan, lecturer representative for the university’s CFA chapter, said faculty raises would directly improve students’ experience.
“I hope that students will see what we are fighting for because faculty working conditions actually translate to student learning conditions,” Khan said. “Because if the faculty are not able to afford to live in this area, how can they work in the area?”
Raquel Flores, Chicana and Chicano studies graduate student and Students for Quality Education intern, said it’s important to advocate for current and future faculty members.
Students for Quality Education is a community organization aimed at achieving affordable, accessible higher education, according to its Instagram account webpage.
“I’m here and I’m passionate because I aspire to be a professor someday,” Flores said after the demonstration. “I’m helping stand in solidarity with them, while also trying to pave the way for a better future, especially since I want to be a professor.”
She said support from other university community members is vital to the growth of the movement.
“They listen to students a lot more than they listen to faculty,” Flores said. “I think having a collective voice come together would be super powerful. We work better in numbers.”
