The California Faculty Association announced that members will go on strike in early December should negotiations for CFA’s re-opener contract be left unsettled on Nov. 9.
According to CFA, its Board of Directors unanimously voted to strike because of the California State University management’s inability to settle re-opener contract negotiations.
CFA is currently in the fact-finding step of the statutory process. After a report entailing all of the facts gets published, the CFA and the CSU will have a 10-day silent period to come to an agreement. If neither party can agree, CFA will go on strike, as authorized by its membership in October.
Four campuses throughout the CSU system will participate in a series of one-day strikes throughout the start of December, including Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State, CSU Los Angeles and Sacramento State.
RELATED: CFA announces strikes across CSU campuses
Faculty at these universities will be participating in strikes on the following dates:
December 4, Cal Poly Pomona
December 5, San Francisco State
December 6, CSU Los Angeles
December 7, Sacramento State
With the strike happening right before finals week, some students worry about their ability to pass their classes, like first-year general communications student Joey Jaurequi. Jaurequi said he is worried about the status of his grades at the end of the semester.
“If my professor goes on strike, they won’t be at class, and that gives me worries about passing my classes and graduating as soon as I can,” Jaurequi said. “I am on the older side of college students, so prolonging my education is not a good situation.”
He said the world should be worried about a potential shortage in professors or teachers in general if their voices are not heard.
“I think the teachers being underpaid is a current issue and I understand the frustration coming from the teachers in regard to them feeling underpaid,” Jaurequi said. “I have no idea how much professors make, but they have expressed multiple times that their pay is far lower than what it should be.”
Other students who work on-campus jobs said they are worried about their pay and ability to fulfill their work hours during the strike. This includes students like Erik Venegas-Leon, a fourth-year political science major, who works in the ethnic studies department as a student assistant.
“Since I work as a student assistant on campus, I would be unable to go to work because my department faculty members will be participating in the strike,” Venegas-Leon said. “If I can’t go to work, I won’t be able to pay for my rent or my necessities.”
In preparation for the strike, some syllabi included the following language for lecturers and professors to notify students in advance of the strike at the start of the semester to prevent any interruptions to instruction.
Juan Gonzales, a fourth-year communications student, said that teachers are necessary to properly guide students throughout their academics and that students should take the time to understand the struggles of faculty.
“My familiarity with CFA is low, but I do agree that groups should speak up to injustice when faced by it,” Gonzalez said. “I do appreciate that there is a group willing to help those affected by the high tuition and poor treatment of faculty.”
