We are going on strike
What to do on Tuesday, Nov. 14th, and important information about the strikes - Teamsters' and our own.
November 11, 2023
Dear Colleagues,
I’m hoping that most of you have read our EBoard message about how faculty can support the Teamsters’ one-day Unfair Labor Practice Strike, called for Tuesday, November 14, 2023. Teamsters Local 2010 is the staff union which represents 1,100 skilled trade workers in the CSU system, including mechanics, carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers, blacksmiths, and engineers. The Teamsters and CFA have worked closely building up to this moment. Both unions recently held Strike Authorization Votes that were overwhelmingly supported by our members. While the Teamsters landed on Nov. 14 for their ULP strike and CFA Board of Directors chose Dec. 4-7 for our strike due to the ongoing statutory process, ALL faculty are encouraged to be in solidarity with the Teamsters strike.
Our solidarity is even more imperative in response to the clearly anti-union and attempted strikebreaking message from Susie Varela in Cal State LA HR, sent on Thursday, November 9, 2023. Her email is intended to scare you into crossing the picket line, going as far to suggest that you call campus police if you feel “unsafe.” Understand that police are always used as strikebreakers and management wants to “deputize” you into helping them break the strike. All strikes are intended to be nonviolent and to disrupt business as usual, and management telling you that everything will continue as “normal” is untrue.
In order to address some of the questions that management’s message may have created, I felt it was necessary to provide clarity and guidance to our faculty about the different timelines the Teamsters and CFA are on regarding our strikes. Also, I want to reiterate ways that you can honor the Teamsters strike so you have an idea of what you can do next Tuesday.
HEERA, Economic and ULP Strikes
As California Higher Education workers, CFA, the Teamsters, and all other unions in the CSU and UC are bound by the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act (HEERA) passed in 1978. HEERA gives us the right to collective bargain and the legal protection to go on STRIKE! At the same time, it requires that we follow statutory procedures that ultimately slow down the collective bargaining process and make calling a strike more cumbersome.
There are two types of protected strikes that Higher Education workers can call: economic and Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strikes. An economic strike is one that workers launch to gain direct economic concessions from their employers: wage increases, reduced class sizes, better working conditions, etc.. This is the strategy that we have undertaken in CFA. On the other hand, workers can call a ULP strike due to an employer’s illegal behavior, such as when they engage in unfair labor practices by not bargaining in good faith or interfering with employee union activity. This is the strategy the Teamsters have undertaken.
Despite us having different strike strategies and timelines, CFA-LA remains in deep solidarity with our Teamster siblings. Although HEERA “contractually prohibits” us from calling an official “sympathy strike,” below are some suggestions for how we can still honor the Teamsters picket lines:
If you don’t teach on Tuesday, JOIN the Teamsters picket line wearing a CFA or other red shirt - plain and simple.
If you are scheduled to teach or work on Tuesday, November 14, as union faculty, we are part of a protected collective bargaining unit, and we have the right to respect the picket line and NOT cross. Other ways you can respect the picket line is to hold your classes remotely, or off-campus. According to Chapter 4b of the Cal State LA Faculty Handbook, “Face-to-face instruction must account for at least 75% of the instructional time provided,” which means up-to-25% of your instruction can “involve comparable instructional activities such as field trips, service-learning experiences, directed study, or technologically-mediated instruction”, i.e. remote (See, “Instruction Modes”).
You are entitled to one personal holiday per calendar year, per Article 33.3 of our contract. You can invoke this day off and join the picket line. This day expires on 12/31/2023.
If you happen to be ill or feel unwell on November 14, and think it's unwise to come to campus that day, you have a legal right (and are protected under Article 24 of the CBA) to take a sick day. Under Article 24.7 faculty are not obligated to provide medical documentation to justify a sick day, not unless sick day absences total more than 3 consecutive work days. No one should feel threatened or intimidated from using their sick time if they need to use it that day for personal health reasons.
Teamsters Picket Line Details
What: Faculty and student solidarity for Teamsters strike picket line
When: Tuesday, November 14. Teamsters will be picketing starting at 5:30 AM; however, they encourage faculty and students to join them at 9 am as well as the 12 pm solidarity rally
Where: Parking Lot 2, Campus Road and Circle Drive, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90032
Rally: At the Golden Eagle Statue, Main Walkway between the library and bookstore at 12 PM. The Cal State LA Labor Council - CFA, Teamsters, CSUEU, and the UAW 4123 - is holding a Strike Solidarity Rally in support of the Teamsters. Flyer below.
The Teamsters’ strike is connected to every part of our work as academic workers in the CSU, no matter our discipline. At Cal State LA, the Labor Council has been actively working together to build solidarity among faculty, staff, and students to support all our efforts towards dignity and respect in our workplace. Teamsters include our students, their family members, and the pillars of their communities. They are the reason any of us can teach at all on servers or in buildings with doors, restrooms, and air filtration systems. They weathered a great deal through pandemic restrictions, and they deserve to be treated with respect.
Like us, they are the CSU. We are the CSU.
I am here to answer any questions or concerns you have about this information, and will hold an informational virtual meeting on Monday, 11/13 at 4PM - here is the link. You can also find us tabling on campus every day next week in preparation for our own strike - stop by and grab a shirt, ask questions - and on Wednesdays we wear red!
In Union,
Anthony Ratcliff
CFA-LA Chapter President
