Dear Cal State LA coworkers,
We on this campus have learned and done a lot in the last few months in our fight for a fair contract. We campaigned hard for faculty commitment to the bargaining process, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, and went on strike TWICE!
We have gained wisdom through this process, and we can trust our judgment around what’s an acceptable deal and what’s an unjustifiable concession; how our labor can be appreciated and how it is denigrated; and the open and democratic processes through which decisions that impact our lives are made and publicized.
Today, we begin voting on the terms of the Tentative Agreement between CFA leadership and CSU management reached on January 22, 2024. On the TA, the CFA-LA Executive Board encourages you to vote NO!!!! If you need any explanation as to why we are recommending No, please read our message from Thursday, February 8, 2024. We also thank the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, who have collectively issued their own statement on the Tentative Agreement and have included it below.
However, those of us who already voted this morning found that the ballot language CFA statewide issued is misleading. It claims that by voting “No” you “accept the terms imposed by Management January 2024,” which is extremely biased. We want to be clear about the statutory process if the Tentative Agreement is not ratified by over 50% of CFA’s voting membership:
We do not simply accept CSU’s Imposition. If the TA is not ratified, CFA’s Bargaining Team shall demand that CSU administration go back to the bargaining table, or else face escalating job actions, including a strike.
We have added a Tentative Agreement flowchart that graphically illustrates what happens with either a Yes or No vote. It is unfortunate that we must spend time clarifying the voting process since that information was excluded from the ballot. In a fair and (small d) democratic election, a ballot should either be neutral – a simple yes or no – or include accurate information about both sides of an issue.
Throughout this process, many of you have attended CFA and CFA-LA meetings on the TA. In addition, hundreds of rank-and-file members–Lecturers, Tenure-line, Counselors, Librarians, and Coaches–are organizing across the state to reimagine and democratize the union we proudly represent. After you vote on the TA, we urge you to sign this petition which calls for the direct election of all CFA Bargaining Team members. We need this and other reforms to make us stronger for the continued fight with Chancellor Mildred Garcia and CSU management.
We make no assumptions about why the ballot language was used, but we want to be clear about the process with our coworkers at Cal State LA. Misinformation is misinformation, and we want you to vote with the truth.
In Solidarity,
The CFA-LA Executive Board
