CSU faculty voting to strike over stagnant wages

Members of the California State University faculty union began voting Monday morning on whether or not to authorize a statewide strike for fair wages.

Online and in-person voting started at 9 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. next Wednesday at all 23 CSU campuses.

Many campuses hosted informational picketing demonstrations and events to kick off the voting period today, including San Francisco State University, CSU East Bay, San Jose State University and Sonoma State University.

The strike authorization vote comes after the CSU Board of Trustees rejected the union’s proposal of a 5 percent general salary increase, instead offering a 2 percent salary increase. California Faculty Association officials are arguing that amount is not enough to support the high cost of living in the Bay Area.

According to union officials, CSU expenditures on faculty salaries have remained flat for the past ten years.

CFA President Jennifer Eagan said in a statement:

“After years of stagnant faculty wages, the faculty in our public university campuses are angry and we are ready for this strike vote. … We all know that the chancellor’s two percent is simply not enough to make teaching in the CSU sustainable.”

Eagan added:

“We work hard to provide quality education for our students, but we also need to support our families. … Education is a road to the middle class for our students, and teaching CSU students certainly should secure a middle class living for the faculty. The status quo is simply not good enough.”