CSU Faculty Vote To Accept Deal For Increased Pay, Benefits

The union that represents California State University’s faculty has voted to accept a deal from CSU management that offers an increase in pay and benefits.

The California Faculty Association is the union that represents CSU’s coaches, counselors, lecturers, librarians, and professors. CFA has been pressing for a deal for close to a year.

Union members spent the last week voting; on a majority vote, 76% voted to ratify the agreement. A representative for CFA said they will not be releasing turnout numbers.

“We thank members for their solidarity, debate, and courage to press CSU management for better faculty working and student learning conditions, especially everyone who worked tirelessly organizing the successful strikes and joining the picket lines,” said CFA President Charles Toombs in a statement.

The union reached a tentative agreement on the first day of a planned five-day strike in late January. As details of the agreement slowly emerged, a vocal contingent called on union leaders to go back to the table.

The CSU Board of Trustees must now ratify the deal to make it official. According to a CSU spokesperson, "We anticipate the board will vote to ratify the tentative agreement at its March meeting."

What’s in the deal?

Among the biggest priorities for the union, the deal offers:

• A 5% general salary increase for all faculty retroactive to July 1, 2023.
• A 5% general salary increase for all faculty on July 1 in 2024, if the state doesn't reduce base funding to CSU next fiscal year. (The governor’s proposed budget currently offers an increase.)
• A higher salary floor for the lowest-paid faculty, who will also receive a 2.65% “service salary increase” (which affects about a third of union members).
• Access to a union representative when dealing with campus police. 
• An increase in paid parental leave, from six to 10 weeks.

The union didn’t win specific gains on other demands, however. In response to a bid for more counselors, CSU said it “acknowledges the importance” of moving all campuses to a 1,500:1 students-to-counselor ratio. And it offers only a commitment to following state code as it relates to access to lactation spaces and gender-inclusive restrooms.

The deal extends CSU’s current contract until the end of June 2025; bargaining for that contract could begin as early as this October.