Disclaimer: I speak only for myself. Content on these webpages does not represent the Department of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Computer Science, CSU Northridge, or the California Faculty Association. Just me.
This page describes information that Prof. Wiegley believes is important for students to know.
How Will A Strike affect my grades/semester/graduation?
It probably won’t impact you negatively at all. I can’t make any guarantees but no CFA strike in the 21 years that I have been here (or that I ever heard about) has resulted in negative consequences for students.
The faculty of the CSU are strongly dedicated to your well-being. Even the thought of our strikes harming you is the number one, biggest reason why we A) Don’t go on strike, or B) Why we choose strike structures with no teeth, such as rolling strikes, or C) Why we accept poor contract agreements to end our strikes early.
But What Could happen to me?
If the union calls a strike, then most instructors will go on strike and not attend classes or do any other work our jobs require or expect. This will effectively cancel classes during the strike.
When the union and management come to an agreement I assure you that the faculty will fix any hardship this caused you. The number one thing students are worried about is grades or having to retake the semester. Teachers will likely be afforded the autonomy to take care of their individual classes as they see fit. But we are going to take care of you. Some examples of things we might choose or be allowed to do:
- We could simply base your grade on the work done up until the strike.
- We could calculate your grade as though you got 100% on all the missed assignments/homeworks/exams. (This is what I would choose.)
- We could give you all ‘A’s (not likely).
What are the faculty asking for?
- You can see all the proposals/counterproposals at:
Proposals — CFA Bargaining. - Salary Items:
- General Salary increase of 12%. Our current contract started on July 1st, 2021. What don’t get raises based on the future. So, you can consider that this contract should cover at least inflation since July 2020. The amount that inflation has outpaced our salary since that time is: 12.26%. Yup, we’re not even asking for the minimum that we should get.
- Lectures in salary range A: a $10K increase to $64,360 (yes, some of your instructors annual salary is just $54K.)
- Lectures in salary range B: a $5K increase to $69,860.
- Department Chairs will receive $80 more per month for their administrative duties. (Being Dept. Chair SUCKS, I know.)
- Benefit Items:
- Increase in our life insurance from $50K to $500K.
- Accidental Death from $50K to $100K.
- A fund from parking revenue to encourage use of alternate transportation.
- Health and Safety Items:
- Gender-inclusive bathrooms in all buildings.
- Lactation rooms in proximity to employee workspaces.
- Limitations on Police Power.
- Leave With Pay Item:
- Bereavement leave to include sibling’s children.
- Parental leave to be one semester or two quarters (currently just 30 days).
- 5 days of crisis leave for immediate family members in health or natural disaster crisis.
- Workload Items:
- Course seat caps as defined in EP&R 76-36 (typically 25-40).
- Counselor workload limited to 65% of their assignments.
- Minimum staffing ratio for counselors not to exceed 1500 students per counselor.
What is the employer offering?
- Salary Items:
- 5% general salary increase. (An effective 7% pay cut.)
- Department Chairs will receive $80 more per month .
- Benefit Items:
- INCREASE parking fees by $2/month.
- Health and Safety Items:
- Lactation rooms are offered as an understanding, not a contract item.
- Leave With Pay Items:
- NOTHING.
- Workload Items:
- NOTHING (essentially).
Yep. it’s that bad. My personal opinion is that I don’t care about some of the items for myself (I don’t have children, I’m not a lecturer, and I don’t have children) but my colleagues have different needs, they come from a variety of cultures. As a contract request I believe all of the items we have requested are reasonable and minimum. Essentially, the only thing management has offered that affects all faculty is 5%. They expect us to take a 7% pay cut due to inflation for the past year two years and forever more in the future.
WHEN WILL the strike happen?
We don’t even know if it will happen. We are still in the legally required bargaining process trying to come to an agreement. We are in the last required stage called “fact-finding”. When that fails and we go through a 10-day media blackout period then the negotiation has failed and both sides have rights to certain actions. The employer can expect us to return to work with the conditions of their last best offer. The union can strike if authorized to do so.
The earliest this could happen is November 1st, 10-days from tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 21st) if fact-finding ending today. This is not likely as I expect fact-finding to last another at least another week. My expectations is that the strike starts on Monday, November 20th (Just before the Thanksgiving break to maximize time on strike and minimize effect on students). Or December 4th, since we would have just gotten paid and could afford to endure at least of month of striking.
How long will the strike last?
Unknown. In my 21 years of service our strikes have either never materialized because we accepted a bad contract instead of inconvenience students, or the strikes have lasted for a day. This time could be different. Personally, I hope it goes for a very long time. I have worked here for 21 years and in every single contract the management has not bargained in good faith. Our compensation had not kept up with inflation. Our workload has increased. Essentially, the management expects us to fix their problems, to “do more with less”. They literally attribute the success of the CSU to “magic” instead of the dedication and sacrifice of the faculty. They take advantage of our dedication towards students and our pacifist academic natures.
The Governor and legislation refuses to fund the CSU properly (UC and CCC students receive 30% more state funding per student than CSU students.)
Until the faculty demonstrate their power and how much the state is dependent on the value of their services that abuse is never going to change.
Is next week’s vote going to start the strike?
No. The faculty vote that is taking place from Oct. 21st through Oct. 27th is called a “Strike Authorization Vote”. It does not start a strike it only *authorizes* the union to call a strike once the bargaining process concludes without agreement. It is a legal requirement. The union cannot include strike as a work action unless the membership authorizes it. That is what this vote is doing. Just us giving power to the union to call a strike later.
Please support your instructors. They are not doing this to harm you. They will accept less than they deserve to prevent harming you. They are asking for reasonable, minimum changes. The administration is going to use the plight of students as a weapon against what the faculty deserve.
If you have any specific questions, no matter what major/program you are in I welcome you to contact me at: jeffw@csun.edu I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.