October 9, 2023
Writers, actresses, actors, nurses, and auto workers have all either been on strike or are still on strike in 2023. It may not be long before faculty at the California State University join their demands for an equitable care of the nation’s wealth. Negotiations between the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the Chancellor’s Office revealed an enormous discrepancy: the CO insisted that faculty take a pay cut. Technically, it wasn’t a reduction in salary. after all, the CO offered a generous “raise” of five percent. The problem, of course, is that inflation has been a double-digit number. Mediation failed and now the CFA is waiting for the fact-finder’s recommendations, which are not likely to favor the CO, especially since the CSU is sitting on a “rainy day fund” of EIGHT BILLION DOLLARS. Unlike previous sets of negotiations, the CFA has decided not to wait until after the fact-finder’s report to hold a referendum on taking a job action, up to and including a strike.
This is hardly the first time that such a vote will have taken place. In 2012, for instance, the CFA called for a vote, and by chance — on the very day that Ron Silliman was visiting the campus to give a reading — I walked to the polling booth and cast my vote just as a reporter and photographer for the college’s newspaper were taking the pulse of the turnout. Without any hesitation whatsoever, I thrust my ballot into the air. If you can’t see that it’s marked “yes,” I assure you that it was.
Over ten years later, inflation has eaten into my earnings, much as it has other workers. Despite receiving glowing reviews of my work on campus and two promotions, my base salary is only ten percent more than it was 18 years ago, once inflation is accounted for. That amounts to a little over a half-percent “raise” per year since 2006. Given the massive difference between then cost of trying to buy a house in Long Beach between 2006 and 2023, I hardly feel as if the “deep appreciation” of the CSU Chancellor’s Office for the hard work of faculty is anything more than lip service.
In the past, the CO has always waited until the last moment to change its mind and improve its offer enough to win the CFA’s approval. My guess is that this time the CO will force the CFA to go on strike in order to maintain our equity in this system. The CO will want to make it look like the CFA selfishly put the economic stability of its membership over the educational needs of students. However, while the students will miss a few classes, demonstrating that workers have the power to change the conditions of their employment is one of the most important lessons we can pass on to them, regardless of their major.
Update on October 22nd: I heard the past week that a tentative agreement has been reached. If so, and the CFA has accepted the five percent pay raise offered by the Chancellor’s Office, I can only say that the CFA would demonstrate how it is one of the weakest unions in the nation. Everyone else is going out on strike and winning far larger increases. It is inexcusable for the CFA to agree to what amounts to a pay cut.
About Bill Mohr