Here’s an Update on Bargaining Our Next CFA Contract

The CFA Bargaining Team has been back at the table since November and are fighting to secure a strong contract with better pay and working conditions for all faculty.  

We returned to the table after we reached a settlement agreement over ground rules in October and are now bargaining over the full contract. This includes all articles in our contract, such as salary, leaves, academic freedom, appointment, evaluation, health and safety, and intellectual property.  

The CFA Bargaining Team has presented several proposals at the bargaining table over the past few months. 

Our proposals address long-standing salary, workload, and equity issues that impact all faculty. These include expanding access to many benefits of our contract to more faculty, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and creating and improving pathways to permanency for lecturer faculty.  

One of the CFA Bargaining Team’s major proposals is on salary. We proposed a salary minima that is no less than 10% of the Chancellor’s base pay, or $79,000, as well as an annual COLA+2% to keep faculty ahead of inflation. We also proposed automatic step increases to move faculty up the salary structure, post-promotion increases to address compression at the top end of the salary structure, an increase in salary range C to guard against compression, and an automatic range elevation eligibility process.  

Additionally, our salary proposal includes increasing funding for a system-wide equity program to address salary inversion, compression, or differentials by race, sex, or other protected categories. 

Also, we have proposed a new stand-alone article buttressing Academic Freedom protections in these difficult political times, including protections regarding instruction, research, and scholarly work.  

The CFA Bargaining Team has proposed a new article on Artificial Intelligence, too, that affords faculty protections and opportunities regarding this new technology. This includes protections for using or refusing to use the technology, professional development resources to adapt pedagogy to incorporate the technology, and further protections for faculty intellectual property.  

You can find all of the CFA Bargaining Team’s proposals, as well as management’s proposals, at our bargaining website here.  

To stay up to date on our progress, CFA members can join caucuses during our bargaining days or the Monday evening town halls we have after every bargaining session. The next bargaining caucus is on Thursday, March 26 and next town hall is on Monday, March 30 at 6 p.m.  

Keep an eye on your email for the registration links. If you’re not a member, join today to be eligible to join the bargaining caucus and town hall meetings.