Dear Colleagues,
I hope you've gotten some much needed rest over the winter break. I can't believe today is the start of the Spring 2024 semester. However, I'm sure you’ve already heard that faculty (Tenure-line and Lecturer instructional faculty, Librarians, Counselors, and Coaches) along with our Teamster siblings will be on strike across the CSU system the first week of classes - January 22-26, 2024. I'm writing to ask you to sign up to join the picket lines here at Cal State LA. As I'll explain in more detail below, we must show up to strike in even larger numbers next week than we did on December 6 to demonstrate to Chancellor Mildred Garcia that we don’t accept her unilateral imposition of a regressive contract upon us. Here's the link for you to sign up and a strike toolkit with more information:
Strike Sign Up: HERE
Strike Toolkit: HERE
Last-Ditch Bargaining
In the most recent round of bargaining—aimed at averting the strike—CSU management walked into the room, presented a PowerPoint of the same offer they sent us last November, threatened systemwide layoffs, AND THEN WALKED OUT OF THE ROOM 22 MINUTES LATER. Less than an hour after that, CSU Vice Chancellor sent all faculty an email with the Chancellor's "Last, Best, and Final" offer of a 5% raise and a 15% increase in parking fees. Instead of bargaining in good faith with us, CSU management expressed nothing but disdain for faculty. But we know they have the money in their flush reserve accounts.
What the Chancellor’s Imposition Means
We're definitely at a make-or-break moment with CSU management. Chancellor Garcia's decision to impose her "last, best, and final" offer was done with the sole intention of undermining faculty morale. She's banking on some of us being too scared to strike and just accepting the measly 5% raise, most of which will be eaten up by ongoing inflation. If we're unable to marshal a credible strike starting on January 22, she will see her union-busting tactics as successful. This might also give her the impression that faculty won't have the courage to challenge her regardless of what she does next.
Truth be told, Chancellor Garcia is a known quantity. When she was campus president at CSU Dominguez Hills, she attempted to merge and close down several Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Education departments claiming they were a financial drag on the university. CFA, along with faculty and students from the threatened departments, were the main reason her attempts failed. However, now that she's CSU Chancellor, she's bringing the same neoliberal logic to the entire system and she knows CFA remains an obstacle. While a called off strike will give her considerably more power, a victorious strike on our part will do a lot to empower faculty to continue fighting for the People’s University.
Docked Pay & Strike Solidarity Funds
For many CFA members, the possibility of a strike is empowering, but I also understand that some of us might be feeling anxious or apprehensive. There’s a lot of fear and discomfort that comes with uncertainty – it’s something many faculty feel every semester or year when they’re waiting to find out if they’ll have enough work to keep health insurance or make enough money to be financially stable. The CFA Strike FAQs make it clear that CSU management can dock your pay while we're on strike. Since our strike has been called for 5 days, then they can technically dock us for all of those days even if we only teach 2 or 3 days. If we claim to be on strike only for Tuesday and Thursday and not also Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then management can accuse us of not being fully on strike. That would remove striking protections we have under HEERA.
The CFA-LA EBoard recently voted to establish a Strike Solidarity Fund for CFA members who experience financial hardships due to lost pay during the strike. We primarily intend the fund for our part time Lecturer colleagues who may already be facing some hardship due to being paid so poorly by Cal State LA. We've set aside ½ of the money CFA-LA has in savings to seed the fund and we’ve started collecting donations from folks in our communities to build upon it. Although the amount each person can receive won’t be equivalent to what will be lost if you’re docked, it can still help cover needed essentials, such as groceries, gas, utilities, etc. If you have the means to provide mutual aid for your fellow Academic Workers who might experience financial hardship, please donate here.
Contact Your Students
The most important thing you can do today is inform your students about the strike, so administration isn't the only one contacting them. By now, you might’ve heard that Cal State LA students received an email from campus administrators encouraging them to snitch on their professors if we cancel classes next week. The idea that Cal State LA management would try to use students against us is a sign of just how morally bankrupt they are. We need to let students know that administrators aren't the ones who care about and work closely with them, nor do they have students’ best interests in mind. Just last semester the CSU Board of Trustees voted to increase student tuition by 34% over the next five years. We should remind our students about that fact. You can use the following sources of information to aid in your communication with students before next Monday, January 22.
Student Strike FAQs: (https://www.calfac.org/resources/student-faq/?fbclid=IwAR2PB_xVE57uYtZpyPO8K7imKjr0FLOH7gyoI5ug2tS4V6rm8AkRBlndtYQ)
Sample Email to Students: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15eszXjzaqWTjoZBEFGThcElGEybmapAXNc2rJkE0WF0/edit?usp=sharing
Finally, below is a list of important dates this week for strike preparation. Hopefully, you can attend several of these meetings to help us get ready for our job action.
Friday, 12 PM to 2:30 PM: Hall walking & Art Build! Join us to create and make posters, signs and banners for the strike lines. Meeting point is near the Golden Eagle Statue at Cal State LA.
Friday, 4 PM: Virtual CFA-LA Strike Meeting. Catch the most updated information about next week’s strike. Register for the zoom link here: https://calfac.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIucuCvrTIpGdbj6sWuB8_muAjfNjqqimO6
Saturday, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM: Strike training for medic, security and strike captain volunteers. Meeting point is at The LA Federation of Labor, located at 2130 James M Wood Blvd., Los Angeles 90006. This meeting will be indoors and we will be masking. Lunch will be provided. Onsite parking is available.
Faculty, students, staff, and community members are invited to all events. Also, we are still in need of strike volunteers (strike captains, security, medics, media, and legal observers) for next week. Please email Molly Talcott mtalcott@calfac.org to sign-up to volunteer! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Otherwise, I hope to see you on the picket lines starting on Monday.
In Union,
Anthony Ratcliff
On Behalf Of the CFA-LA Executive Board
