What was supposed to be 10 days of silence broke today as the California Faculty Association announced its striking schedule if it did not settle on a new contract with the California State University by April 6.

Sacramento State faculty members can walk the picket lines on April 11 and 12 if no agreement is made, said CFA Sacramento Chapter President Cecil Canton.

“We want to let our faculty and students know that we are serious about settling this contract,” Canton said, adding that he is remaining cautiously optimistic that a resolution can be reached.

In a press release, CSU Spokeswoman Claudia Keith said talks of strike dates are counterproductive to the process.

“The California State University is focusing its time and energy on working out a settlement with our faculty union within the framework of the fact-finder’s report,” Keith said.

Canton said that said the dates were preset “quite a while ago,” and the announcement was procedural. “They knew that we were going to have job action,” Canton said.

For more than 23 months the two sides have been at odds, and the CSU and the union agreed to a 10-day contract extension last weekend in order to review an independent fact-finding report that made recommendations to settle a new contract while also having a quiet period.

The report became public on March 25. Since then, CFA has called on the administration to “face the facts,” and settle the contract.

The recommendations included raises for the faculty that will help close the 18 percent salary gap between what CSU professors earn and the earnings their peers at similar universities around the country.

If no deal can be met the first week of strikes will begin on April 10 and 11 at CSU Los Angeles and California Maritime Academy.

Faculty members at Dominguez Hills can go on strike April 11 and 12 along with East Bay (Hayward) and San Marcos.

“We believe it is in the best interests of everyone, including Chancellor (Charles) Reed and his administration, to settle this contract,” said CFA Vice President Lillian Taiz in a press release.

Each of the 23 CSU campuses has formed an organizing committee of faculty members who are putting together plans to effectively close the campuses down for two days each.

Faculty members hope to inform CSU students about the strike so they will fully understand what will take place if the rolling strikes begin.

If the extension ends without a contract, CFA will announce additional strike dates for the remaining CSU campuses.

Gamaliel Ortiz contributed to this report. Josh Staab and Gamaliel Ortiz can be reached at [email protected]