Current:Home > NewsCalifornia State University faculty launch weeklong strike across 23 campuses -ValueMetric
California State University faculty launch weeklong strike across 23 campuses
View
Date:2025-04-19 03:19:31
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly 30,000 professors, librarians, coaches, and other workers at California State University, the largest public university system in the U.S., walked off the job Monday in a weeklong strike to demand higher wages.
The stoppage across Cal State’s 23 campuses comes two weeks after CSU officials ended contract negotiations with a unilateral offer starting with a 5% pay raise this year, effective Jan. 31, far below the 12% hike that the union is seeking.
With the new semester beginning Monday, classes for many of the system’s 450,000 students could be canceled, unless faculty individually decide to cross picket lines.
Victoria Wilson, a part-time political science lecturer who picketed in the rain at Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles, said she’s striking for higher pay. She said her salary fluctuates from semester to semester, which impedes her long-term financial goals.
“We’re just hoping for a better contract to ensure better pay and also the working conditions here on campus,” Wilson said.
The California Faculty Association represents roughly 29,000 workers. Another 1,100 CSU plumbers, electricians and other skilled trades workers represented by the Teamsters Local 2010 were set to join the strike but reached an agreement with the university late Friday.
Some students on Monday joined the picket lines to show their support.
Cal State Long Beach student Gabriela Alvarez said she joined the demonstration outside the university to support her professors and to reject tuition hikes that will start this fall.
“It’s important for our professors to be treated right, we need more student resources here, we’re trying to lower tuition prices,” Alvarez said.
“I’m not going to be able to afford next semester if they go through with the tuition spikes,” she added.
Cal State Chancellor Mildred Garcia said Friday in a video call with journalists that the university system had sought to avoid a strike but the union’s salary demands are simply not viable.
“We must work within our financial reality,” she said.
In December, CFA members staged one-day walkouts on four campuses in Los Angeles, Pomona, Sacramento and San Francisco to press for higher pay, more manageable workloads and increased parental leave.
The union says the university has money in its “flush reserve accounts” and could afford the salary increases with funds from operating cash surpluses and the $766 million CSU has in emergency reserves.
Leora Freedman, CSU’s vice chancellor for human resources, said Friday those reserve funds cannot be tapped for wage hikes because they are meant for times of economic uncertainty or emergencies, including wildfires or earthquakes.
“We’ve made several offers with movement, and most recently a 15% increase that would be paid over three years, providing faculty a 5% increase each year. But the faculty union has never moved off its 12% demand for one year only,” she said.
The increase the union is seeking would cost the system $380 million in new recurring spending, which the university can’t afford, Freedman said.
Cal State Los Angeles student Katerina Navarro said she supports the strike. Monday was the first day of classes in her nursing program, and she was surprised her classes were not canceled.
“Some more money needs to be invested in salaries and educational resources because people in education are severely underpaid for the work they do,” said Navarro, who noted she was underpaid when she worked as a teacher abroad. Both her mother and sister are teachers.
The past year has seen lots of labor activity in the country as health care professionals, Hollywood actors and writers and auto workers picketed for better pay and working conditions.
In California, new laws have granted workers more paid sick leave as well as increased wages for health care and fast food workers.
In 2022, teaching assistants and graduate student workers in the University of California System went on strike for a month, disrupting classes as the fall semester came to a close.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the Teamsters local was set to join the strike but reached an agreement Friday.
___
Associated Press writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Who Is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's Ex-Fiancé Ken Urker? Everything to Know
- Another endangered right whale dies after a collision with a ship off the East Coast
- Migrant border crossings dip in March, with U.S. officials crediting crackdown by Mexico
- Family of explorer who died in the Titan sub implosion seeks $50M-plus in wrongful death lawsuit
- In Alabama Visit, Buttigieg Strays Off The Beaten Path. Will It Help Shiloh, a Flooded Black Community?
- U.S. companies announced over 90,000 job cuts in March — the highest number since January 2023
- Rudy Giuliani can remain in Florida condo, despite judge’s concern with his spending habits
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Powerball jackpot reaches $1.23B as long odds mean lots of losing, just as designed
Ranking
- NCAA President Charlie Baker would be 'shocked' if women's tournament revenue units isn't passed
- Gypsy Rose Blanchard Shares She’s Undergoing Cosmetic Surgery
- Southern California hires Eric Musselman as men's basketball coach
- Use these tips to help get a great photo of the solar eclipse with just your phone
- Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes
- Conan O'Brien to return to 'Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon for first time after firing
- A Pennsylvania County Is Suing the Fossil Fuel Industry for Damages Linked to Climate Change
- No, a judge didn’t void all of New York’s legalized marijuana laws. He struck down some
Recommendation
The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
John Passidomo, husband of Florida Senate President, dies in Utah hiking accident
Officer acquitted in 2020 death of Manuel Ellis resigns from new deputy job days after hiring
Beloved giraffe of South Dakota zoo euthanized after foot injury
Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
NFL power rankings: Bills, Cowboys among teams taking big hits this offseason
Judge denies Trump bid to dismiss classified documents prosecution
Beloved giraffe of South Dakota zoo euthanized after foot injury