The California Faculty Association will hold a five-day strike at all 23 California State University campuses from Jan. 22-26. The announcement came following four one-day strikes at four different CSU campuses in December.

The strike was unanimously approved at the CFA board of directors meeting on Dec. 19 after CSU management made insignificant progress to meet the CFA’s demands.

“Our members refuse to give in to what they know is beneath their worth,” said Charles Toombs, CFA president, in a faculty-wide email. “Unlike management, we are unwilling to be complicit in the harming of our colleagues, students and staff. Our commitment to one another is unshakeable.”

The faculty union is asking for a 12% pay increase along with other demands. The CSU is offering a 5% increase, effective Jan. 31.

With classes starting Thursday at Fresno State, here’s a rundown on the strike situation.

Who will be striking?

The strike will be a combined effort with Teamsters Local 2010, the union representing CSU skilled trades employees including mechanics, carpenters, painters, plumbers, locksmiths, blacksmiths and engineers.

The CFA represents professors, librarians, coaches and counselors.

Staff members are represented by other unions. Administrators do not belong to a union.

What is the timeline of events leading to the strike?

• In October, the CFA authorized the strike with 95% of its members saying they would support a strike if necessary.
• In November, the CFA held a 12% Rally where its members protested around campus demanding for better wages.
• Teamsters Local 2010 held a one-day strike on Nov. 14 at 22 of the CSU campuses.
• The CFA held one-day strikes at Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State, CSU Los Angeles and Sacramento State on Dec. 4-7.
• The CFA bargaining team reserved four days for negotiations with the CSU during the week of Jan. 8-12.

How did negotiations break down?

On Jan. 8, the union tried to “bargain in good faith and explore the space for a negotiated solution to our contract fight,” CFA officials said in a faculty-wide email.

Leora Freedman, vice chancellor for human resources, told a different story.

“We are very disappointed that despite our best efforts, there has been no meaningful movement from CFA over the course of more than seven months of negotiations, and no indication that they are open to reasonable negotiations,” she said in an email to faculty. “The CFA’s only salary proposal was not financially sustainable to the CSU and would result in painful cuts on our campuses – including layoffs – that would jeopardize the CSU’s educational mission.”

During the meetings CSU management presented the CFA with a slide deck continuing with their position from November.

“When CFA’s team stopped the presentation to inquire as to whether there were any proposals, the Chancellor’s team leaders shut down and threatened systemwide layoffs,” the CFA board of directors said in an email. “They seem reassured that we will eventually surrender to our dismal working conditions, paltry wages, inadequate parental leave, shortage of counseling faculty, lack of gender inclusive restrooms and a host of other injustices that plague the CSU system.”

CSU management walked out of the meeting after 20 minutes and canceled all remaining negotiations.

“Today, in lieu of real proposals, management walked away from the table after just a few minutes,” said Charles Toombs, CFA President in the same email. “Rather than bargain in good faith with the union, they expressed nothing but disdain for faculty. We know they have the money in their flush reserve accounts.”

What are faculty members saying?

Faculty members say they are fighting for better conditions not only for themselves, but for students as well.

“I don’t think they respect our work and our labor, and I don’t think they respect students because they’re expecting students to learn in these conditions, and I think it’s insulting,” said Rhonda Rodgers, a psychology lecturer at Cal Poly Pomona, in an article by The Poly Post.

Others say that recent pay raises have not kept pace with inflation.

“I live paycheck to paycheck,” said Rachael Hill, a Cal Poly Pomona assistant professor of history. “I’m one paycheck away from being houseless.”

Hill said it is unreasonable for faculty members to possess a doctorate and still barely be able to make ends meet.

“You go on and you get a Ph.D. and come back to the (CSU) community that raised you, so to speak, and you can’t afford just to have groceries in your fridge and pay rent where you work,” she said.

What are students saying?

Students have also personally witnessed this similar struggle.

Isla Dudley, a history major at Fresno State, said she has had several professors who work two jobs in order to make a living.

“Hearing about my professors working, you know, teaching seven classes and working a second job just to make their ends meet while they have Ph.D.s,” Dudley said. “They’re teaching us that, you know, the next generation of history students, and yet they can’t afford to pay their bills on a single salary. It’s absurd… There’s no reason why anyone should have to have a second job.”

What is the Fresno State administration saying about the strike?

Administrators at Fresno State have said that ensuring student safety and support during this time is a priority.

“The university is taking steps to lessen the impacts of the work-stoppage to students,” said Kent Willis, vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management in a student-wide email. “The strike should not interfere with students’ ability to complete their courses and graduate on time.”

In another email, President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval encouraged students to prioritize their own personal well being.

“During the course of this semester, I want to encourage you to care for yourself and focus on academic and personal growth,” he said. “Know that Fresno State is here to support you every step of the way.”

How will this affect Fresno State and its students?

According to Jiménez-Sandoval, Fresno State and all its resources will remain unaffected for the duration of the strike.

Classes are not canceled, but individual professors may decide to cancel classes. The university announced a website where students can report canceled classes. Students are encouraged to reach out to their professors to find out the status of their classes.

“During the strike, individual faculty members may decide to strike that week, which could result in individual classes being canceled,” he said in a campus-wide email.

Move-in times for student resident halls will remain the same.

“Students who live in residence halls will continue to be provided with all the usual services. The student union, library and other student service centers will also remain open,” Willis said.

While there may be picket lines, students are allowed to cross them and are not required to provide strikers with any information.

How will faculty be affected?

Joining the picket lines is optional. Striking members have the right to strike and are protected by law for doing so. Faculty who choose to strike will not be paid.

If faculty members choose not to strike they will continue to be paid.

“When an employee strikes, they withhold work for the entire day. It is unlawful to engage in a partial strike by withholding some but not all work on the same day,” said Jim Schmidtke,
associate vice president for faculty affairs in a faculty-wide email.

Faculty members are not allowed to call in sick to receive pay for the days they choose to strike. A regular absence report must be made upon members’ return to work.