WINNER OF 2023 ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS PACEMAKER AWARD, NEWSPAPER/NEWSMAGAZINE NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Volume 162 No. 1 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
PHOTO BY ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
Senior assistant librarian and university archivist for SJSU Carli Lowe holds her daughter and shakes a makeshift noisemaker in front of the MLK Jr., Library.
CFA Ends System-Wide Strike By Alina Ta EXECUTIVE EDITOR
California Faculty Association (CFA) ended its system-wide strike four days early after reaching an agreement with leadership from the California State University system (CSU). Ray Buyco, San José State’s CFA chapter president, said strikes for the rest of the week have been called off and that faculty union members returned to work on Tuesday. “Management moved quite a bit on the first day of the strike, and while it is not everything we wanted, there are some significant CFA wins in this settlement,” Buyco said. CFA started what initially was supposed to be a week-long strike across all 23 campuses in the CSU system on Monday after both parties were unable to reach an agreement during previous negotiations. The CSU and CFA reached a tentative agreement on Monday night agreeing to settle for a 5% general salary increase for all faculty in July, increasing paid parental leave from six to ten weeks, increasing protections for faculty who interact with the police, improving access to gender neutral restrooms and more, according to a letter from the CFA.
CSU Chancellor Mildred García said she is appreciative that CFA ended their strike immediately after the agreement. “I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately," García said in a Jan. 22 press release from the CSU. “The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system’s long-term financial sustainability." On Monday, dozens of faculty union members wore red shirts and held signs on all four sides of SJSU’s campus to demand for higher pay, longer parental leave and more. At 10 a.m., two dozen faculty union members chanted in the rain “No cuts, no fees, CSU is run by thieves” on the street entrance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Chris Cox, the associated vice president for CFA’s council in racial and social justice at SJSU, said he was going to be on strike for the rest of the day. “Weather will not make any difference in my participation,” Cox said. Cox said CFA members went on strike because they were bargaining for better pay and with improvements that could
create better working conditions for faculty and staff, while also increasing the quality of education students are receiving. “So for that reason, I think it’s important for us to be out here and just show our strength and to let management know that
ensure faculty members could receive raises as soon as possible. "We have been in the bargaining process for eight months and the CFA has shown no movement, leaving us no other option," Freedman said, according to the same press release.
Two years from now I’m not going to forget that my teachers went on strike . . . that’s a blemish on your reputation, on the CSU’s reputation. Jelani Finkley Environmental Studies sophomore
it’s really important for them to get back to the table with some serious offers in mind,” he said. “(And) with some serious changes to what they’ve offered so far.” At the beginning of the month, CSU announced it would provide all instructional faculty, librarians, counselors and coaches a 5% general salary increase on Jan. 31, but would increase parking fees, according to a Jan. 9 press release from the CSU. Leora D. Freedman, the vice chancellor for CSU’s Human Resources, said this action would
PHOTO BY ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
California Faculty Association members protest in the rain near the SJSU campus.
Buyco said the 5% general salary increase proposal was not enough to satisfy CFA’s demands because the pay increase wasn’t high enough to balance inflation. Inflation in the Pacific region of the U.S., including California, has been increasing the price of most goods annually between 3% and 8% since 2021, according to an Aug. 3 2023 article from the Public Institute of California. John Jabagchourian, a senior lecturer at SJSU’s College of Education, said he decided to join the strike because he wants a fair contract. Jabagchourian said over the past few years inflation has gone up and the cost of living has increased, but wages have not risen at the same rate. “I would title it (myself) as middle class, but I’m living in a one bedroom apartment and I’ve been living in a one bedroom apartment for 15 years because I can’t get enough funds to save up,” he said. “Cost of living and housing is going up at a higher rate than what I’m paying getting savings.” Carli Lowe, a senior assistant librarian and a university archivist for SJSU, said it’s important for the union members to stand in solidarity with one another to make sure their demands are met. Lowe said she brought her daughter to the strike because she wanted to see how solidarity works. She said she had to use parental leave during the Fall
2022 semester to take care of her daughter. “I got lucky because she was born in November, so I was able to extend what would have been my normal time off,” Lowe said. “There was Thanksgiving break and then winter break, so I got some extra time that wouldn't have happened if she’s been born in another time.” Lowe said she still had to pay for extra time off using all of her sick leave and her vacation days. She said it’s common for most parents to return from parental leave due to not having any sick days or vacation days left. Lowe said as a result, many parents had to pay for their own days off to take care of their children when they needed childcare. “Even the cost of everyday life without a child on the salaries that we’re paid is tight, and then you add the thousands and thousands of dollars a month that it costs to put your child in a childcare that you can trust and count on, and it becomes nearly impossible,” she said. Lowe said she believes that if the union members stand together they can get what they need and in turn what the students need. Environmental studies sophomore Jelani Finkley said it’s embarrassing to see faculty members be forced to go on strike because they are not getting paid enough. Finkley said he thought professors were supposed to earn six figures. “As a CSU system it’s embarrassing on their part because I’m not gonna forget this,” he said. “Two years from now I’m not going to forget that my teachers went on strike . . . that’s a blemish on your reputation, on the CSU’s reputation.”
Follow Alina on Instagram @mniatailmp