California faculty at largest US university system launch strike for better pay

SACRAMENTO, California — Professors at California State University, the largest public university system in the United States, will hold a series of four one-day strikes starting Monday on four campuses to demand higher salaries and more parental leave for thousands of professors. , librarians, coaches and other workers.

Strikes at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona; San Francisco State University; California State University, Los Angeles; and California State University, Sacramento are the latest push by the California Teachers Association to fight for better wages and benefits for the approximately 29,000 workers the union represents.

The union is seeking a 12% pay rise and an increase in parental leave from six weeks to a full semester. They also want more manageable workloads for teachers, better access to nursing stations and more gender-inclusive bathrooms.

Anne Luna, president of the Sacramento chapter of the teachers union, said these workers need an increase in wages and benefits at a time when the cost of rent, food, child care and other necessities have increased by the last years.

“They can afford to offer fair compensation and safe working conditions,” Luna said in a statement. “It’s time to stop funneling tuition and taxpayer dollars into a heavy-handed administration.”

The California State University chancellor’s office says the pay increase sought by the union would cost the system $380 million in new recurring expenses. That would be $150 million more than the state’s increased funding for the system for 2023-24, the office said.

Leora Freedman, vice chancellor for human resources, said in a statement that the university system aims to pay its workers fairly and provide competitive benefits.

“We recognize the need to increase compensation and are committed to doing so, but our financial commitments must be fiscally sustainable,” Freedman said.

He said the chancellor’s office respects workers’ right to strike and would prepare to minimize disruptions on campuses.

Beyond the faculty union, other California State University workers are fighting for better pay and bargaining rights. The Teamsters Local 2010 union, which represents plumbers, electricians and maintenance workers employed by the university system, held a one-day strike last month to fight for better wages. In October, student workers at the university system’s 23 campuses had the right to vote to form a union.

Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010, which plans to strike in support of the teachers union, said skilled workers have been paid far less than workers in similar roles on University of California campuses.

“Teamsters will continue to unite and support our fellow unions until CSU treats our members, faculty and all CSU workers with the justice we deserve,” Rabinowitz said in a statement.

The strike comes during a big year for labor, with healthcare professionals, Hollywood actors and writers, and auto workers protesting for better wages and working conditions. All of this amid new California laws that give workers more paid sick leave, as well as pay increases for health care and fast food workers.

Last year, teaching assistants and graduate student workers at the University of California went on strike for a month, disrupting classes as the fall semester drew to a close.

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Sophie Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna