What Happened at the Table

We have updates about our current efforts to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). As members of the CFA Bargaining Team, we invite any and all questions or comments from all members about the process. 

The goal of the CFA Bargaining Team is to negotiate the best possible contract for our members, including gains in salary, job security, workload, academic freedom, anti-racism and social justice, and shared governance. We have a mandate from our members to negotiate our contract through a process of open bargaining that is aligned with these commitments. In our case, open bargaining allows CFA members who are not on the Bargaining Team to attend sessions over Zoom. (Here is a short video of CFA president-elect and Sac State faculty member Margarita Berta-Ávila describing the importance of open bargaining.) 

Shamefully, CSU management has refused to agree to open bargaining and, in the course of three months of preparation and travel, has agreed to meet face-to-face with us just once, for all of 15 minutes. Instead of open bargaining, they have attempted to backchannel negotiations through emails, text messages, and closed-door side-bars. As a result, we have filed an unfair labor charge against management with the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB). 

While we await PERB’s decision, which may take weeks or even months, we will continue to insist on transparency and inclusion in our bargaining process and not allow negotiations to devolve into secrecy.  

We will also continue to create and revise robust new contract language so that we are prepared to negotiate when management returns to the table. We will use our contract as a tool to defend against growing attacks on education, to safeguard the faculty portion of shared governance, and to protect against the privatization of this incredible public resource that serves our students, our communities, and ourselves. 

Action items: 

• Write, call, and visit your elected representatives, and write to Chancellor García, to direct her team to get back to the table and bargain in good faith. 
• Sign up here to join an Article Committee on Articles 12 (Appointment), 15 (Evaluation), 16 (Non-discrimination), 20 (Workload), and new articles on Academic Freedom and Artificial Intelligence. 
• Register for open bargaining here, and follow updates about the bargaining process at cfabargaining.org. 
• Recruit colleagues to join CFA if they are not members — there is strength in numbers. 

Please reach out to us at poberle@calfac.org and/or mbertaavila@calfac.org with any questions or comments. 

In solidarity, 

Pat Oberle 
Margarita Berta-Avila