FRESNO, Calif. — A sea of red shirts filled Fresno State’s campus Tuesday as dozens of faculty members turned out to rally for a new contract.
The California Faculty Association has been fighting for a new contract since June, asking for more support for lecturers, physical protections and a 12% pay raise.
Andrew Jones, vice president of the Fresno State union chapter, says local support for faculty is crucial. The rally came in conjunction with the California State University Board of Trustees meeting, as many from the statewide union rallied outside of the chancellor’s office in Long Beach.
“We're hoping that the provost will take note of our march, our rally, and thus will call up the president in Long Beach and say ‘Hey, they're serious. Time to take them seriously,’” Jones said.
Faculty plan to display posters in support of a new contract on their car dashboards as they continue their push.
Raising the ceiling and the floor
Although the pay raise has been at the top of administrators’ minds, faculty have been quick to fight other accommodations, like more support for lecturers. Teresa Brooks, a lecturer on campus, says the system doesn’t give her “little things” like a computer to create lesson plans.
“We have a lot of other requests that aren't associated with pay and we just want them to hear all of our requests,” Brooks says.
Regardless, Brooks says she is in support of the raise, especially as a lecturer, which is often the least supported faculty position. The initiative for the lecturers, the union says, is called “raise the floor.”
“I have 10 years experience in my field, 10 years teaching,” Brook says. “I make less than $40,000 a year. Put that against the cost of the president getting his own free house.”
The Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to adopt initial proposals for a successor collective bargaining, which is essentially a framework for what the next successor contract would look like.
A CSU spokesperson said in a statement that CSU remains “committed to the collective bargaining process and reaching an agreement with CFA.”
