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As first reported last week, the CFA Board of Directors has authorized a membership vote to determine whether CSU faculty are willing to strike in support of a fair contract and quality education for our students.
CFA urges members to pledge now to vote “yes” in the strike vote to be held in April.
After 18 months at the bargaining table, the CSU administration continues to make demands that would result in a lower-quality education for CSU students, a diminished role for faculty, and a degraded public university for California.
“While we hope that a resolution can be achieved in mediation and fact finding, we must be prepared for every eventuality,” said CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of history at Cal State Los Angeles.
Help us send a strong message to the chancellor that we are fed up with his “take-back” bargaining proposals and continuing efforts to privatize the people’s university by signing the pledge to vote “Yes” today.
Herbert Carter, Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, faces a challenge to being reconfirmed by the State Senate. Republican leaders in the Senate reportedly have called into question his role in the system’s executive compensation and student fee debacles.
Appointments made by the governor to the CSU Board of Trustees need to be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature’s upper house. To be confirmed, Carter would need at least two Republican votes.
“I cannot recommend that Trustee Carter’s nomination be confirmed by the Senate until such time as Californians see real evidence that the CSU Trustees are making the tough decisions needed to control escalating costs that are being passed onto students and their families,” wrote Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) in a statement.
Students and faculty members up and down California are gearing up for National Days of Action for Education on March 1 and 5, 2012.
Events will take place March 1 on 14 CSU campuses and are sponsored by local Students for Quality Education (SQE) groups. View the listing of events.
Additional actions are planned by the Occupy Education California coalition. To view a full list of organizations participating in “Actions in Defense of Public Education” across the country, visit http://www.occupyed.org/organizations
CFA supports these and other efforts to bring greater awareness to the devastating impact the funding crisis and budget cuts have had on public education.
Last week Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), CFA and CSU students announced legislation to reform the CSU Board of Trustees, specifically designating nine of the 25 trustees to be students, faculty, or workers from within the university system.
Currently, only one appointee must be a faculty member and two must be students.
Yee’s bill would double the number of student trustees to four and would ensure that at least three faculty members and two non-faculty employees serve on the Board of Trustees.
“For too long, we have seen the Board of Trustees fighting for their top executives, but not fighting for those who truly make CSU great – the students, faculty, and workers,” said Yee. “No longer will the Board of Trustees be an exclusive club of just wealthy Californians, but instead it will be representative of the entire CSU community.”
“The CSU Board of Trustees has been far too isolated from the real world consequences of their decisions,” said CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of history at Cal State Los Angeles. “We need a Board of Trustees that provides voices to those in the trenches and knows what it is like to be a student, staff member or faculty at the CSU.”
Under present law, 19 of the 25 Trustees are appointed by the Governor. While Yee’s bill would designate nine of the appointments for students, faculty, and university workers, the Governor would continue to appoint 19 members. In addition, Yee’s bill would remove conflicts of interest by prohibiting employee trustees as well as the Chancellor from participating in any subcommittee dealing with collective bargaining.
American University adjunct faculty vote to unionize
Adjunct faculty at American University voted to unionize, following the lead of their peers at George Washington University and Montgomery College. – Washington Post
California State University faculty to vote on strike
In the midst of a contract fight, the statewide union representing California State University professors will vote this spring on whether to impose a “rolling” strike at all 23 campuses. – Sacramento Bee
CSU teachers to hold April vote on whether to hold rolling 2-day strikes
California State University teachers will vote in April whether to stage rolling two-day strikes at campuses across the state to protest what they call lack of progress in contract talks. The California Faculty Association’s board of directors voted unanimously Tuesday night to ask its members in mid-April whether to conduct the walkout. – Contra Costa Times
