California State University faculty's rolling strike launched round two at the San Francisco State campus on Tuesday, resulting in the cancellation of many classes.
The first of the four one-day strikes took place Monday at Cal Poly Pomona. On Tuesday morning, about 500 SFSU faculty walked off the job.
"If you get better pay we can maintain our existence," said Ali Kashani, a lecturer faculty member in SFSUs philosophy department. "We're going to be better teachers to take care of our students."
The union for faculty members at CSU campuses, the California Faculty Association (CFA), represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches at CSU campuses. Union leaders say the salary increases CSU has proposed are not adequate.
The union is seeking a 12% raise in one year. CSU, the nation's largest university system, is offering a 15% raise over three years, according to CFA officials.
At the San Francisco State campus, many students were busy preparing for finals, and most who spoke with NBC Bay Area knew of the strike. Some students told us the strike was impacting their schedules for their finals and competitive athletic events.
Third-year SFSU student Armin Abolhassani, who is studying philosophy, religion, and creative writing, said he plans to stay at home Tuesday as all his classes are canceled.
"I've heard plans for a strike from a lot of my professors, and I have heard most -- if not all -- of the classes are gonna be shut down on campus," Abolhassani said.
Regarding the strike, Abolhassani said, "I support it because it is really disheartening what’s happening this semester with all the professors being laid off, a lot of great professors have been losing their jobs who have been working here for decades."
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Brad Erikson, a lecturer at SFSU and a chapter president for the California Faculty Association, said faculty pay has not kept up with inflation.
"Since our last contract we've had 7% increases, but we've also had 18% inflation, so we're underwater by 12%, which is why we are asking for 12%," Erickson said. "It's not really a raise. It's a break-even."
The CSU system said a 12% increase in salaries would cost $380 million in new recurring spending.
"For context, CFA's salary demand would cost $150 million more than the funding increase that the CSU received from the state of California for all operations in 2023-24," the California State University said in a news release on Dec. 1.
The CSU system says it proposed 15% general salary increases for faculty over three years, plus additional increases possible for some faculty.
However, the faculty union says that offer is unacceptable.
"First of all, they’re not offering 15%; they are offering 5% for this year when we’re asking for 12%. And then they’re stipulating that they would be willing to give us 5% in the next 2 years if the state provides the money," Erickson said.
In an email obtained by NBC Bay Area, faculty at one CSU campus were told the most recent offer to CFA included 15% in general salary increases over the next three years, with 5% in the present year, and then depending on the state honoring the financial commitments it made with the CSU, 5% the following year, and 5% the year after that.
San Francisco State said in a statement: "SF State respects our employees and their labor rights. All labor negotiations are handled centrally at the CSU Chancellor’s office. We remain hopeful that the CSU reaches an agreement with the CFA as they have done with other unions."
The CSU Office of the Chancellor said to NBC Bay Area in a statement: "California State University (CSU) respects the right of the California Faculty Association (CFA) to engage in lawful concerted activities. Our goal, and hope, is to minimize any disruptions to our students. CSU is prepared to get back to the bargaining table with CFA at any time. We believe that issues should be resolved through bargaining."
CFA has planned two more strikes: Wednesday at CSU Los Angeles and Thursday at Sacramento State.
The negotiating teams head back to the bargaining table next week.
"If they're ready to talk for real this might be it," Erickson said. "But if they're not, which I suspect, we're organizing system-wide strikes in the spring."
