SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Nearly 30,000 faculty members and other employees represented statewide by the California Faculty Association began a five-day strike against the California State University system on the first day of the spring semester Monday -- while the CSU system sought to downplay campus disruptions stemming from the massive walkout by citing "misinformation" about classes being canceled.
"Classes are not canceled," the CSU system said in a statement Monday. "Individual faculty members who decide to strike will cancel their own classes. Students should check their class portals or contact their professors to find out whether they intend to hold class this week. ... There have been no changes to the published spring academic calendar, and the strike will not interfere with students' ability to complete their courses and graduate on time."
Still, some 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches across the 23-campus CSU system hit the pickets lines Monday -- and it was unclear how many, if any, classes were actually going on as scheduled.
Pickets were scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. across the system, but some strikers were out as early as 4:30 a.m., braving rains that were hitting the Southern California region.
"We are going to show up and just prepare to be wet and cold today," Jenny Hall, an environmental studies professor at CSU Dominguez Hills, told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
"This first day, the most important thing (is) we are shutting down the campuses for the whole week. So don't go to your classes this week. Don't cross the picket line. Come back on Monday next week, on the 29th."
Meanwhile, the university said the sides were in communication over the weekend, but added, "We will not discuss any details of those communications."
The strike is planned to run through Friday. San Diego-area schools affected are San Diego State and Cal State San Marcos. Issues include salary, workload, health and safety concerns, parental leave and class sizes.
The CFA walkout comes after a similar strike was averted Friday when a tentative deal was reached with Teamsters Local 2010, which represents 1,100 skilled trade workers at 22 of the 23 CSU campuses. The university Monday said, "Teamsters members are not participating in the faculty union's strike."
On Jan. 9, as talks between the university and CFA stalled, CSU officials announced they would provide all instructional faculty, librarians, counselors and coaches with a general salary increase of 5%, effective Jan. 31, over three years -- rejecting demands for much higher increases and ending negotiations.
"With this action, we will ensure that well-deserved raises get to our faculty members as soon as possible," said Leora Freedman, CSU's vice chancellor for human resources. "We have been in the bargaining process for eight months and the CFA has shown no movement, leaving us no other option."
The 5% salary increase, totaling 15% over the three years, is consistent with agreements CSU has already reached with five of its labor unions, Freedman said.
"The CFA's demand for a 12% raise would cost $312 million just this year," the university's Monday statement said. "Their other economic demands, such as life insurance increases and raising the minimum pay add up to another $68 million, for a total of $380. This is financially unrealistic. Their request far surpasses the state funding increase that the CSU received in last year's state budget ($227 million) and is more than the entire budget of Cal Poly Pomona ($369 million)."
Besides the 5% annual salary increases, the CSU said it has offered the faculty union two additional weeks of paid parental leave -- from six weeks to eight -- and to accept 13 of an independent factfinder's 15 recommendations. Those recommendations, the university said, include the factfinder's comments on paid leave, department chair pay, gender-inclusive restrooms, and counselors and other key items.
In its Jan. 9 statement, the university said, "CSU strives to provide fair, competitive pay and benefits for all of our employees," Freedman said. "We recognize the need to increase compensation and are committed to doing so, but our financial commitments must be fiscally sustainable."
But in response, CFA President Charles Toombs issued a statement blasting CSU management for expressing "nothing but disdain" for its faculty.
"The CFA Bargaining Team reserved four days for re-opener contract negotiations this week, making every effort to bargain in good faith and explore the space for a negotiated solution before a systemwide strike Jan. 22 to 26," Toombs said on Jan. 9.
Ahead of Monday's walkout, CFA member and Cal Poly Pomona Counselor Maria Gisela Sanchez Cobo said in a statement, "There are so many issues within the CSU system that need to be addressed."
"I know many faculty teach one class here, one class there," she added. "They're driving across their county to make ends meet -- that impacts that quality of teaching, the quality of learning. And our inadequate counselor- to-student ratios -- we have so many students who are facing significant barriers. ... And I'm fully hurt and disheartened that CSU management increased tuition for students. ... they have no funding, but they have enough for presidents' raises and more and more administrators."
Meanwhile, Monday's university statement also said, "We respect the rights of the faculty union and their members to engage in strike activity and remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the California Faculty Association for the sake of our students, faculty, the system and the state."
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