President's Message

Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the more than 29,000 faculty members represented by the California Faculty Association, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the California State University.

We are fortunate to have collective bargaining rights guaranteed by law. For nearly 40 years, CFA has served as the faculty’s elected representative for employment matters with the CSU administration. 

This academic year will begin with a focus on bargaining. On International Workers Day, we announced we would reopen bargaining with CSU management on Articles 20, 23, 31, and 37 (workload, paid leave, salary, and health and safety). 

Our bargaining campaign centers on the needs of all Unit 3 members and addresses long-standing inequities experienced by many members.

Bargaining Unit 3 includes tenured and tenure-track faculty (including department chairs and directors), lecturer faculty, counselor faculty, librarian faculty, and coaching faculty at the 23 CSU campuses.

Our bargaining positions offer a vision for community safety rooted in our anti-racism and social justice principles, safety on campus, adequate and humane paid parental leave, and wages that keep pace with the cost of living. Our bargaining position demands that the CSU raise the salary floor for the most precarious and vulnerable faculty.  

With CFA, faculty have a powerful voice to shape working conditions by bargaining and mobilizing for a strong contract.

To stay up to date with bargaining, sign up to receive updates. For the most recent contract updates and how to get involved, go to cfabargaining.org

Winning For Faculty

Our diligent work over the last academic year to protect, expand, and enforce faculty rights guaranteed under our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is an added show of strength at the bargaining table.

For example, at CSU Maritime, CFA members navigated to victory in cruise Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiations. Years-long efforts by campus activists at CSU San Marcos – including CFA members and community members – led to removing former Senator William A. Craven’s name from the administrative building. Calls for the name change emerged in light of racist statements and actions he made in the early 1990s related to undocumented and Latinx people.

Our advocacy also means legislative wins. In 2022 our members helped pass Assembly Bill 655 giving the state the ability to track police officers affiliated with hate groups. Our support also helped secure Senate Bill 886, which expands much-needed student, faculty, and staff housing on campus-owned lands.  We have supported and advocated for an anti-caste discrimination bill, SB 403. CFA was one of the first labor organizations to adopt caste protection from discrimination in our CBA.

CFA members continue to advocate for a system-wide budget to support the best learning conditions for students, Title IX enforcement, dismantling systemic inequity and oppression at every level of campus life, and combatting anti-Blackness in the CSU system. 

We are invested in helping our newest colleagues establish successful careers in the CSU. We hope you will become familiar with the faculty contract, which can be found at calfac.org/contract. Our CBA serves the interests of faculty and our students, as we know faculty working conditions are also student learning conditions.

We Are Stronger Together

Our union is at its strongest when members attend meetings, volunteer, and serve as elected union leaders. We invite you to work directly with your CFA chapter to get involved in the bargaining campaign along with anti-racism and social justice work on campus. 

It takes all of us working together to win outstanding contracts, enforce our rights, and enjoy our hard-fought protections.

Sign Up for CFA Membership and Join our Fight for a Better CSU!

So, how can you help?

First and foremost, please join your colleagues and become a member of CFA.

By joining CFA now, you are sending an important message to management about our commitment to winning at the bargaining table, protecting our professional role as faculty in the CSU, and enhancing the quality of education our students receive. We need to show strength now for reopener bargaining and as we enter full contract bargaining in 2024. 

CFA member dues support our essential work, like contract bargaining and faculty rights. Every new member ensures we represent faculty sentiment on faculty rights, retirement, pay, and working conditions. Our efforts also include organizing to secure state funding for the CSU and sponsoring legislation that provides the best learning and working conditions.

Join us in helping to ensure the future of your campus, the CSU, and public higher education – go to calfac.org/join-CFA to complete a membership form.

To find out more about your campus chapter and how to connect with your chapter colleagues, visit calfac.org/cfa-chapters.

Once again, we extend our warmest welcome to you. We are pleased to have you as a new colleague and are committed to supporting your work in the university.

In union,

Charles Toombs,
CFA President
Professor of Africana Studies
San Diego State University