Month: November 2011

Dear Students,

On 7 November, the California Faculty Association (CFA) announced that it will call for a one-day strike at California State University, Dominguez Hills and California State University, East Bay ten days later. The text of the announcement can be read here. For CSUN faculty, it is not legal for CSUN faculty to strike as well. However, CFA have asked faculty at other CSU campuses to take personal holidays (which is legal) to show support for the strikers at Dominguez Hills. Should I do this, it will mean the cancellation of all classes on 17 November. I have not yet made a decision on whether I will take a personal holiday on that day, and I value student opinion on the matter.

The issues leading up to this strike action are very complex, but here are a few important details. Faculty have been working under an expired contract since at least 2007 (maybe longer–I can no longer remember). CFA negotiated significant gains for a new contract beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year. The major issue was faculty salaries which lagged very significantly behind those of peer institutions. However, a provision in the contract was that the Chancellor could walk away from the negotiated pay settlements in the event of a financial emergency.… Read more…

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