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| Image from Recollection Books |
In April, the Faculty Union of the
California State University system began the strike authorization process. The
votes are finally in: 70% of the organization’s 12,501 members voted and 95% of
them said yes to a two-day rolling strike at the university’s 23 campuses, should
negotiations break down again, the Los
Angeles Times reported this week. The strike would most likely occur at the
beginning of the Fall, 2012, semester.
The union represents over 23,000 CSU
professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches. About 54% of them
are dues-paying members, but they all will be represented by the new contract,
which would make it the largest university strike in U.S. history.
The union and the university have been
haggling for 22 months with little sign of an accord on the horizon. The
faculty is asking for an infinitesimal 1% pay increase, which might not even
cover cost of living increases. They are also asking for greater control over
class sizes and increased job protections for faculty working under temporary
contracts.
Administrators and regents are, not
surprisingly, crying poverty and pointing to the state’s yearly multi-billion
dollar deficits. Indeed, CSU’s budget was slashed by $750 million this fiscal
year and is looking at another $200-million cut next year if voters do not
approve a tax initiative on this November’s ballot. Yet the regents have had no
problem finding the resources to give 10% raises to many university
administrators, including a 25% ($100,000) raise to SDSU’s new president.
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