The California Faculty Association is hard at work to send a message to the CSU system that its 23,000 members throughout the state don’t want to strike – but are prepared to do so.

Many of Sacramento State’s faculty members participated in an informational picket and rally on Monday in the Library Quad, where dozens of angry faculty members clad in [DESCRIBE CLOTHING] talked about [BLAH BLAH]. They wanted to send the message that [MESSAGE MESSAGE].

The union, which has over 1,000 members at Sacramento State, has been encouraging faculty members to sign commitment cards pledging that they would support a CFA decision to strike.

The union would need the support of at least 70% of its members at Sac State in order for faculty members here to participate in a strike, CFA officials said at a meeting Friday that followed President Gonalez’s spring address.

CFA Vice President Lillian Taiz addressed those present at the meeting, explaining what else must happen before the CFA may strike.

The negotiations between the CFA and the CSU Chancellor’s Office, which have lasted 20 months so far, have reached the final stage required by the rules of the bargaining process, known as fact-finding. It follows the failed mediation session that ended on Dec. 15. In this process, “a neutral “fact-finder along with one person from each of the CFA and CSU administration bargaining teams will examine arguments and evidence from each side and issue a report, according to the CFA website, calfac.org.

The non-binding report will suggest areas in which both sides may be able to compromise to find agreement. If the two parties are still unable to come to agreement, the chancellor’s office may forcibly impose its “last best offer,” which would be an attempt to force a contract upon the CFA. The CFA would also be legally allowed to strike at this time.

A CFA strike would come in the form of system-wide rolling strikes for two days at a time, Canton said. This would mean that one campus would strike for two days, then reopen as another campus strikes. Students at each campus would only miss two days of class at a time, so the affect on a student’s ability to pass required classes or graduate on time would be minimal, Canton said.

The CFA has already begun seeking out support from other labor organizations within the state for a potential strike. The CFA is seeking the support the labor federations of every county that contains a CSU campus, Taiz said. If these labor organizations vote to sanction a CFA strike, no unionized workers in the county would cross the picket lines of striking faculty members.

An exception to this support would be the California State University Employees Union, who recently signed a three-year contract with the Chancellor’s Office containing a provision prohibiting CSU staff members from participating in any form of sympathy strikes. Taiz suggested that there might be ways for these staff members to support a faculty strike, such as calling in sick or taking vacation days during a strike.

Despite the great lengths that the CFA is taking to prepare for a possible strike, many faculty members stress that it is the last thing they want to do.

Some faculty members expressed concern Friday that missing two days for a strike could result in a dock in their pay.

“If you do this you may lose the money,” Taiz said, “I don’t want to pretend that you won’t. We don’t have the resources to provide strike pay.”

“The best way to avoid a strike is to prepare for one,” Canton said.

Gonzalez, who has no role in the negotiations between the CFA and the Chancellor’s Office, said that the faculty union has not been clear enough in its objections to previous offers by the CSU system.

“The main issue is that the CFA interprets the offer on the table differently than what the California State University does,” he said. “The CSU is saying it’s (a) 25% (increase), they’re saying it’s not. They have to give the rationale why they think it’s not, and that hasn’t gotten out there.”

Canton said that the last offer made by the CSU system would only worsen the situation of the faculty.

“We are lagging behind comparable institutions by 18%, not factoring inflation,” Canton said. “If we had accepted the last offer, we would be behind by 20% in four years. That’s expanding the gap.”

The main argument of the CSU system is that the state government simply has not provided enough funding for them to offer larger raises to the faculty. Canton said that the reason they don’t have adequate funding is because they have not pressed the governor and legislature hard enough for it.

“When you ask for money and say ‘I don’t really need it,’ you won’t get it,” Canton said, explaining that the Chancellor’s Office implied this in the way their request to the governor was phrased.

The long process of negotiations has put a great deal of stress on faculty members. Some have left Sac State because of pay issues, and others are considering it.

“I’d have to be convinced at this point not to leave,” said Andrew Hertzoff, an assistant professor of Government.

Cody Kitaura can be reached at [email protected].