One Day to Victory
By 
Faculty in the Cal State system walked off the job yesterday. The universities caved immediately.
The union representing California State University faculty reached a tentative agreement with the university system late Monday, putting an end to a planned five-day strike after one day.
“In case anyone forgot, STRIKES WORK! After months of negotiations and two strike actions, our movement for a #betterCSU has paid off!” the union announced on Instagram.
Faculty are expected to resume teaching Tuesday and students were advised to look for messages from their instructors. The agreement, which must be ratified by union members, includes higher salary floors for the lowest-paid workers, safer workplaces and an expansion of parental leave. In an email to faculty members, union leaders said the agreement includes a 5% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2023, among other benefits.
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The strike by the California Faculty Assn., which represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, counselors, librarians and coaches, culminated months of increasing tension between the union and CSU administration. It was the latest California walkout in higher education and TK-12 school districts as faculty and other workers — many stressed or burned out after the pandemic years — have demanded higher salaries amid escalating costs of living.
Just over a year ago, about 48,000 University of California academic workers, teaching assistants, researchers and postdoctoral scholars walked out for about five weeks, ultimately winning significant improvements in wages and working conditions. The Los Angeles Unified School District shut down for three days in March 2023, when teachers walked off the job in solidarity with school support staff, who won pay increases. A month later, L.A. teachers agreed to a contract that provides a 21% wage increase over about three years, averting a second strike.
The CSU faculty union had pushed for an across-the-board, 12% wage increase for the 2023-24 academic year and wanted to raise the minimum salary for full-time faculty to $64,360 from $54,360. The union also sought improvements such as smaller class sizes, gender-inclusive restrooms and a full semester of expanded parental leave.
The tentative agreement falls short of the full slate of demands. In addition to the retroactive pay, the agreement includes another 5% increase on July 1 that is contingent on state funding. It raises the minimum salary for faculty by $3,000, increases paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks and improves access to gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces, the email said.
It also extends the current contract, which was slated to end in June, by one year.
“This historic agreement was won because of members’ solidarity, collective action, bravery, and love for each other and our students,” said Antonio Gallo, an associate vice president of lecturers, in the email. “This is what People Power looks like. This deal immensely improves working conditions for faculty and strengthens learning conditions for students.”
Of course no one is going to win every demand. Everyone on the negotiating team knows this. They’ve already decided what the baseline of acceptable victories is going to be. At the very least, it looks like the faculty got that. Now the workers have to ratify it and we will see if there is any residual anger for not holding out longer. I doubt there will be much.
I will say it again–form a union. There is nothing better. Even if you are in state where public employees don’t have collective bargaining rights, you can still form union-like structures and even affiliate with unions that still brings you power.