BY THE CALIFORNIA FACULTY ASSOCIATION

The following is the text of a statement released on December 20 by the California Faculty Association, an AAUP affiliate and collective bargaining agent representing 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches in the California State University (CSU) system.

We are pleased to report that we have reached a tentative agreement with CSU management for a new faculty contract. Upon a ratification vote by CFA members, faculty will see an immediate salary increase, including retroactive payments, and a number of improvements in our Collective Bargaining Agreement.

It was faculty action that made this agreement possible. Only in the past month, after faculty members loudly and clearly communicated that we want a fair contract that acknowledges our dedication and service to students, did we see the movement from management that we were demanding: movement on salary and in in-range progression, range elevation, movement on anti-racism and social justice proposals, and more.

Thousands of faculty members signed petitions to their campus presidents to demand a fair contract, and we delivered those petitions in early November. On November 9, we rallied at the Board of Trustees. In subsequent weeks, faculty members kept the pressure on by asking tough questions of Chancellor Castro during campus visits. Immediately following these actions, we saw significant movement from the CSU management for the first time in over 20 months of bargaining.

“The new contract delivers an immediate pay raise and other improvements that faculty members identified as important priorities in our bargaining surveys and during dozens of campus meetings,” says Charles Toombs, CFA President. “Our new contract was made possible because faculty members were united in demanding our rights, respect, and justice.”

We will have more details in the coming weeks, but important wins in this contract include significant salary movement:

• $3,500 COVID Service Award (pro-rated based on time base) to recognize the significant and dedicated work of faculty during the 2020-21 academic year.
• Four percent General Salary Increase (GSI) for this year, 2021-22 year, retroactive to July 1, 2021.
• Another four percent GSI, contingent on the state budget, for the 2022-23 year.
• Two rounds of Service Salary Increases (SSIs) — 2.65% SSI for eligible faculty below the SSI max for the 2021-22 and 2023-24 academic years.
• A 2.65% Post-Promotion Increase (PPI) in 2022-23 for full professors, Lecturer D faculty and equivalent coaches, counselors, and librarians who are no longer eligible for SSIs.
• Agreement on reopener negotiations for salary increases in 2023-24.
• Three years of salary range elevation that expands eligibility to many more lecturer and librarian faculty on temporary contracts with at least six years of full-time adjusted service.

Improvements happened across the contract as well:

• A significant increase to the number of awards for exceptional levels of service to students and recognition of cultural taxation in these awards.
• The assigned time for new probationary faculty that we won in 2016, and that are currently enjoyed by our newer probationary colleagues, will now be permanent in our CBA.
• The expressed ability for faculty to address and rebut bias in student evaluations.
• Recognition that librarian and counselor faculty should not be tied to their desk, allowing for increased remote work opportunities.
• Clear language outlining coaching faculty eligibility for multi-year appointments.
• A pathway to the tenure line in the CSU for lecturer faculty who have been offered tenure-track employment elsewhere and a foot in the door to the interview process when lecturer faculty apply for tenure-track positions on their campus.
• One of the first contracts in the country to include caste in categories protected from discrimination.
• Joint CSU/CFA workgroups to develop a framework for longer-term contracts for contingent faculty beyond the three-year appointment and for a possible professor of practice/teaching tenure classification.
• A joint workgroup tasked with producing a report on all forms of parental support in the CSU that includes suggested improvements, along with cost estimates and an agreement that the CSU can at any time increase the number of paid days of parental leave.
• A memo from the chancellor calling for the convening of a diverse group of CSU faculty, staff, unions, students, and other stakeholders, to look at alternatives to police on our campuses, as well as improved options for conflict mediation, that includes clear recognition of CFAs work to push this conversation forward.

These advancements were gained without any reductions in faculty rights. Because of member activism and support, the CFA Bargaining Team also successfully pushed CSU management to drop egregious takebacks on sabbatical leaves, reprimands, the Faculty Early Retirement Program, and many others.

“This is an historic contract,” says Kevin Wehr, CFA Vice President and chair of the bargaining team. “For the first time in decades, we have won a successor contract agreement without being on the brink of a strike. The actions that faculty took over the last months forced management to recognize that the power our union displayed in the Fight for Five in 2016 is still current. The CSU faculty, united for our students, is a force to be reckoned with.”

In the coming weeks, we will share the tentative agreements once they are finalized and signed, and we will continue to communicate details and next steps for ratification voting by members.

Our collective voices and advocacy are how we prevailed and secured a strong contract for all faculty. Thank you for staying updated and supporting your Bargaining Team.

Let us all take this holiday to rest, recharge, and be with our family, friends, and loved ones. We wish you the very best this holiday season. We will see you in the new year when we continue our fight for rights, respect, and justice.