California State University faculty march for pay raise, threaten strike

Hundreds of students showed up at the university’s quad to listen to various speakers addressing the issue. The union is demanding a 5 percent salary increase for 2015-16, while management for the 23-campus system has offered a 2 percent pay raise – the same increase authorized for all other CSU employee groups.

More than 1,000 California State University faculty members seeking salary increases are expected to rally in Long Beach on Tuesday.

CSU management has declared that CSU presidents are more important to the CSU statewide system that any number of faculty CFA members.

However, Alexander and HSU president Lisa Rossbacher said faculty members can’t participate in a strike at the moment.

Wildlife major and member of the student labor union Kaitlyn Hernandez linked student success to faculty satisfaction and lamented the loss of teachers who either left HSU or were fired in the time she has been a student – including former director of Indian Natural Resources Science and Engineering Program Jacquelyn Bolman.

“For its part, the CSU has stressed its desire to work through the collective bargaining process and reach a fair agreement”, Rossbacher wrote. Alexander said that faculty members will not be able to strike until next semester.

When asked what she thought would come of the two-day Board meeting, Eagan replied, “It sounds like we’re going to get a report about how the faculty is paid just fine and everything is going swimmingly and that the faculty shouldn’t be upset, but we’re asking them to please not tell us what our experience is!” The union will not accept this offer by CSU management. More than 90 percent of the CSU faculty voted earlier this week to go on strike if negotiators do not reach an agreement.

Outside of the board’s building, instructors and students rallied holding signs that read “faculty salaries are too low” and “I don’t want to strike but I will”. Participants will wear red shirts that say “I Don’t Want to Strike But I Will”.

The “Fight for Five” march will begin at 11 a.m.in downtown Long Beach and will end outside the chancellors office. The bargaining process is complex, and additional steps are required before any decisions about a strike or other actions will be made. Fact-finding hearings are scheduled for November 23 and December 7.

Weidner said the protests and the information put out by the CFA is not in the best interest of the students or the university. In the next few days, you may hear and see reports of rallies at the CSU system office or here at Humboldt State; these events are likely to draw media attention, but they are not part of a strike, and classes will continue to meet.