Many Chico State faculty members are unsure about where they stand on the vote to ratify the tentative agreement that was struck between the California Faculty Association and California State University following the one-day strike in January.
Since January’s strike, the CFA has had a chance to go over what it offers, including a 5% general salary increase for all faculty members retroactive back to July 1, 2023, with an additional 5% GSI dependent on state funding that could go into effect on July 1 this year.
The agreement also grants an additional four weeks of parental leave for a grand total of 10.
Tempers are flaring, as several members of the faculty expressed disappointment in how quickly the strike ended.
In particular, Juan Araujo-Sariñana, a biology lecturer and CFA representative said that he felt whiplash at the end of the strike.
This sentiment was echoed throughout the biology department, where half of the faculty are lecturers. One of them, Sarah Cline, added the end of the strike had been “deflating.”
But while faculty are irritated at the CFA for folding so quickly, there is a reason for it.
The strike — originally planned for a week — was ended early after the CSU said the proposed TA would disappear if it didn’t end history lecturer Robin Averbeck said.
But faculty members are still unsure what way that they want to vote. Some want to vote no and stand in solidarity with other CSUs. Others are saying that they should vote to uphold the agreement. Stephen Lewis, a history professor said, “we got something.”
Even though voting ends on Sunday nobody seems sure where the vote will land. If the TA is passed, Lewis said he “figures we’ll fight again next year.”
One thing that everyone seems to agree on is that the higher-ups at the CFA do not want to strike again.
Several faculty members said that the CFA’s messaging does not seem to match their feeling.
Another biology lecturer, Elizabeth Bianchini, said that the CFA makes the agreement sound like a win, a sentiment repeated by Sarinama, Cline and Averbeck. All of those same faculty members said that the agreement did not feel like one.
The Orion has reached out to the President Steve Perez for comment.
Maki Chapman can be reached at [email protected].
