Bargaining Update: CFA-LA response to interim chancellor Koester

An update from the bargaining table about our contract reopener

Faculty Colleague,

I hope this bargaining message finds you well. Despite several months of our union bargaining, CSU management continues to reject most of our contract reopener proposals. On Tuesday, August 9, the CFA Bargaining Team updated faculty about the status of negotiations with management letting everyone know we're at an impasse. In short, impasse moves us to the next step of the statutory process, as governed by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB): mediation, with a state-appointed third party. If we cannot agree to contract terms in mediation, we move on to fact-finding. The union must submit to both mediation and fact-finding before we can take concerted job actions.

By now, I’m sure you’ve read Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester’s email to the faculty which characterizes our bargaining proposals as “unreasonable,” focusing primarily on our demand for a 12% General Salary Increase. While management’s unwillingness to agree to a 12% GSI is part of the reason why we declared impasse, it definitely wasn’t the only one. In fact, of the 15 proposals we made to management, they completely rejected nine without making any counter proposals. These proposals include: 

• Raising the salary floor and provide some much needed equity for Lecturers at ranks A & B; 

• Establish course capacity limits that benefit faculty and students;

• Improve Counselor-to-Student ratios (1 Counselor to every 1,500 students, as recommended by the International Accreditation of Counseling Services);

• Parental Leave for one full semester; and

• Ensure campus safety and wellbeing for all, among others. 

It’s Time for 12!

Interim Chancellor Koester’s email is also misleading because it claims management initially offered CFA a 12% raise over three years. However, here’s how their offer actually broke down: 

• A 4% GSI in 2023-2024; 

• A 3% GSI in 2024-2025, contingent on the CSU receiving the requisite state funding;

• A 3% GSI in 2025-2026, contingent on the CSU receiving the requisite state funding;

• The creation of a vague system-wide program that would distribute the equivalent of a 1% GSI in 2024-2025 and a 1% GSI in 2025-2026, both also contingent on state funding. However, we would have to bargain over to whom and when this money would be distributed at a later date. 

The only GSI we would be guaranteed was 4% in 2023-2024. All the other raises in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 were conditional on whether the Governor and state legislature provided the CSU with the same level or more funding than the previous year. In 2022, management fooled us into accepting a raise that was partially contingent on state funding and although we were supposed to receive a 4% GSI last year, we wound up with a 3% raise.  

Needless to say, we declined their convoluted offer and re-proposed our demand for a 12% GSI in 2023-2024. Management countered with a 4% GSI, which they later increased to 5%, suggesting that to be “substantial” movement and their final offer. However, since inflation in California is 3.9% this year, a 5% GSI is effectively only a 1.1% raise. We’ve already lost a lot of financial ground over the past two years with inflation being 3.4% in 2021 and 9.4% in 2022. As the cost of living continues to rise on essential items such as housing, food, gas, and other consumer goods, we must fight for a salary increase that will outpace inflation. 

When “Equity” Gets Inverted

CSU management and the Board of Trustees find it very “reasonable” to increase executive pay any chance they get. In 2020, they gave now disgraced ex-Chancellor Joseph Castro a 30% percent increase over his predecessor, Tim White, and Chancellor-Select Mildred Garcia is set to receive a 27% raise over Castro’s salary. In addition to her $795,000 base salary, she will get $80,000 in deferred compensation, a $96,000 housing allowance, and $12,000 car allowance, making her total compensation package $983,000 a year. In fact, Garcia's salary represents a 66% increase to the base floor of Chancellor salary since Castro’s hiring. Management also gave several campus presidents 29% "equity" raises in 2022, even those who had faced faculty no-confidence votes the previous year. 

There is always money available to pay high-priced managers, and faculty are expected to accept 5% raises (effectively 1.1% with inflation) that barely cover increases in the cost of living. Inevitably, our proposals seek to push CSU management to place more of its financial resources toward classroom instruction to benefit hard working faculty and students. However, Interim Chancellor Koester asserts that if they were to meet our demands it would “undermine the CSU’s fiscal stability.” We completely disagree. At this time, the CSU has billions of dollars in reserves and even more money in investment accounts. They have enough money to fully fund our proposals and to establish the salary step system our union siblings in CSUEU and the Teamsters are seeking. Moreover, CSU reserves should be tapped to offset the Board of Trustees’ threat to raise student tuition. 

What about our students? 

All of our bargaining proposals seek to center students first. When we raise the floor for Lecturer faculty, Lecturers can focus on instruction instead of making ends meet. Our campus safety proposals support safety for everyone, including queer, non-binary, trans, women, lactating parents and people of color. Smaller classroom sizes make for improved learning conditions for both faculty and students.

Since 2020, the Chancellor’s base salary has increased by 66%, and yet, the administration is still proposing a 6% tuition increase for students. In the past decade alone, our campus has experienced increases to course caps, impaction, quarter-to-semester conversions (impacting WTU allocations), divestment in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and much more. Meanwhile, former campus president, William A. Covino, celebrated Cal State LA’s ability to meet and exceed student enrollment at Academic Senate in the Spring 2023 semester. 

Our students deserve better. Their fees pay for access to health care services, yet experienced waiting lists of over 150 students  to access counseling services, when management actively refused to retain licensed student counselors in Spring and Fall 2022, making it very clear that faculty working conditions are student learning conditions. Management needs to fund the classrooms. 

Now, it’s time for some action!

We need a fair contract that addresses our needs and the needs of our students because faculty working conditions are student learning conditions. We must let CSU management know that if they continue to reject our proposals, we're prepared to take further work action including a strike if necessary. You can do three things right now to ensure we win the best possible contract:

1. Complete out our CFA Commit Card, where we ask all of you to show us that you're willing to fight for a 12% GSI, an increase to the minimum salary of the lowest paid faculty, improving parental leave, addressing workload, and protecting the health and safety of faculty. We are in a historic moment of labor action in higher education. Across the nation, from California to Chicago to New York City to New Jersey, Academic Workers have gone on strike to win significant salary increases that outpace inflation, along with proposals to support students and other campus workers. 

2. Update your syllabi to include the following language in your courses to inform your students about the possibility of work action:

   English Sample Syllabi/Electronic Bulletin Board Language: 

   Important note about a possible work stoppage during the semester

   
   The California Faculty Association (the labor union of Lecturers, Professors, Coaches, Counselors, and Librarians across the 23 CSU campuses) is in a difficult contract dispute with California State University management. It is possible that we will call a strike or other work stoppage this term. I promise to promptly inform you of any schedule disruption. Our working conditions are your learning conditions; we seek to protect both. For further information go to www.CFAbargaining.org.
   
   Spanish Sample Syllabi/Electronic Bulletin Board Language:
   Nota importante sobre la posibilidad de un paro laboral este semestre
   
   La Asociación de Facultad de California (California Faculty Association – el sindicato laboral que representa a profesores, entrenadores, consejeros y bibliotecarios en los 23 campuses de la CSU) se encuentra en medio de una difícil disputa contractual con la administración de todo el sistema de la California State University. Es posible que el sindicato de profesores convoque una huelga u otro paro laboral este término. Prometo informar a la clase lo antes posible de cualquier interrupción en el itinerario.Nuestras condiciones laborales son tus condiciones de aprendizaje; buscamos proteger ambos. Para obtener más información, ve a www.CFAbargaining.org.

3. Join a Contract Action Team (CAT) to help spread the word about bargaining to your fellow colleagues. To win this contract fight, we will need to have many conversations with small groups of our coworkers about the importance of our bargaining proposals. 

If you have any questions about how to get more involved to win our demands, please feel free to contact me at aratcliff@calfac.org. 

In Solidarity,

Anthony Ratcliff
Chapter President, CFA-LA
Chair, CFA Contract Development & Bargaining Strategy