California Faculty Association reaches tentative agreement with CSU, calls off strike

The California Faculty Association and California State University reached a tentative agreement on a contract Monday night, ending a systemwide strike that started hours earlier on 23 campuses across the state and was scheduled to last through the end of the week.

“The collective action of so many lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians, and coaches over these last eight months forced CSU management to take our demands seriously. This Tentative Agreement makes major gains for all faculty at the CSU,” CFA President Charles Toombs said in a statement from the union.

Union members are expected back at work Tuesday.

Included in the agreement:

▪ A 5% general salary increase for all faculty, retroactive to July 1, 2023

▪ A 5% general salary increase for all faculty on July 1, contingent on the state not reducing base funding to the CSU.

▪ An increase to the salary floor for the lowest-paid faculty.

▪ Salary step increases of 2.65% for 2024-25.

▪ An increase in paid parental leave to 10 weeks from six weeks.

▪ An extension of the current contract for 2022-24 one year to June 30, 2025.

“This historic agreement was won because of members’ solidarity, collective action, bravery, and love for each other and our students,” said Antonio Gallo, Associate Vice President of Lecturers, South. “This is what People Power looks like. This deal immensely improves working conditions for faculty and strengthens learning conditions for students.”

The CSU advised students to look for messages from faculty regarding any class adjustments during the week, following the first faculty strike at the largest, four-year public university system in the country.

The CFA represents around 29,000 faculty.

“I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately,” CSU Chancellor Mildred García said in a statement.

“The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability. With the agreement in place, I look forward to advancing our student-centered work — together — as the nation’s greatest driver of social mobility and the pipeline fueling California’s diverse and educated workforce.”

At Stanislaus State, Dave Colnic, the Department Chair of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and chapter president of CFA said he hopes the CFA members are happy with what they received but this is just a start.

“I’m extremely happy with the tentative agreement,” he said. “This agreement greatly improves the lives and working conditions for faculty, counselors, librarians, and coaches. Once this tentative agreement is ratified our contract will have important innovations that we can build on.”

Colnic said, everyone will receive a retroactive 5% raise and a second 5% on July 1. He said the union is excited to engage with their students as the semester begins on Friday and will be pursing legislation that will promote better financial accountability of the California State University system and try to improve other working conditions at Stanislaus State.

“Although classes were not yet in session, nearly 100 of us braved the weather to demonstrate that solidarity,” he said. “A core team worked tirelessly for months to make sure we were ready. Yesterday proved we were. We organized and participated in the strike for ourselves, and we did it to model for our students. I could not be prouder of my colleagues than I am today.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2024 at 7:03 AM.