Thousands of staffers at California State University, the largest public university system in the U.S., launched a five-day strike on Monday over wages, workloads and health and safety concerns they said have been dismissed by management.
The California Faculty Association, representing about 29,000 workers, has been bargaining since May. The professors, librarians, coaches and other workers on the system’s 23 campuses walked out on the first day of spring-semester classes for most of its 450,000 students. Schools did not formally cancel classes, leaving it up to individual instructors to inform their students whether they would be teaching.
The union is seeking a 12% pay increase, while Cal State is offering 5% annually for three years. But that is not the only sticking point. Staffers also want more student mental-health services, improved parental leave and manageable workloads.
“In recent news reports, CSU management has only addressed our conflict over salary; they have completely ignored the issues of workload, health and safety concerns, and parental leave,” said Chris Cox, CFA Vice President of Racial & Social Justice, North, in a statement.
“Management wouldn’t even consider our proposals for appropriate class sizes, proper lactation spaces for nursing parents, gender inclusive bathroom spaces and a clear delineation of our rights when interacting with campus authorities.”
The CFA believes the money in the university system’s “flush reserve accounts” could cover the increases, but CSU vice chancellor for human resources Leora Freedman said that money is for emergencies and would amount to $380 million in new recurring spending. The university called the union’s demand “financially unrealistic.”
Some students also joined in support of their profs, especially in light of a planned 34% tuition increase.
With News Wire Services
