By Cecile Bendavid.
After nearly two years trying to reach a labor agreement with university management, the faculty on the 23 campuses of the California State University system voted overwhelmingly in early May to authorize the California Faculty Association’s board to call rolling strikes. The vote was 95% in favor of the strike. The announcement is the latest in a series of events that could result in schools not opening this fall for some 400,000 CSU students.
“We have said all along that we do not want to strike, but we will if that is what is necessary,” said California Faculty Association president Lillian Taiz, a history professor at Cal State Los Angeles, just before a news conference announcing the vote.
Since the announcement the CSU Chancellor’s Office and the CFA Bargaining Team have resumed negotiations, but have so far been unable to reach a settlement. Should no settlement be reached, state law dictates they would then enter “fact-finding” stage, which is the final step in the state-mandated bargaining process.
In this stage, a neutral third party would review the issues in dispute and make recommendations to settle. At that point the Chancellor would have the power to unilaterally impose his concessionary demands on the faculty and the faculty would be free to strike.
For more information on CFA and updates on these negotiations, visit www.calfac.org.
