Bargaining FAQs

The California Faculty Association is an anti-racist, social justice union of more than 29,000 tenured, tenure-track, lecturer, counselor, librarian, and coaching faculty at all 23 campuses of the CSU. CFA is the exclusive bargaining representative for all Unit 3 employees in the California State University.

A union contract, or “Collective Bargaining Agreement” (CBA), is the legal document that defines workplace rights, pay, and benefits. The CBA is negotiated between CFA, the sole bargaining representative of Unit 3 faculty, and the CSU.

We are bargaining over the full contract. This includes all articles in our contract, such as appointment, evaluation, health and safety, intellectual property, salary, and benefits. We can bargain over issues if both CFA and CSU management agree to do so. Technically, we can negotiate with the CSU over anything that is within “scope,” meaning it is a mandatory or permissive subject of bargaining under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Education Act (HEERA).     

During the bargaining process, CFA members and CSU management meet to negotiate over articles in our current contract and any new proposals. Bargaining involves each side making written proposals to each other and responding to the other side’s proposals. Each side presents arguments and evidence in favor of their proposals.   

The parties trade proposals until they reach a version that both sides can agree upon. If an agreement is not made, the union or the employer can declare impasse and proceed to the next steps in the statutory process.   

In California, public employee unions must engage in a statutory impasse process. As you may recall, CFA declared impasse in July, and in September engaged in the required mediation step. On September 14, the mediator sent a letter moving CFA and CSU management to factfinding. This action came after mediation in which the only   tentative agreements reached concerned administrative leave with pay, summer term employment, sick leave, holidays, and CFA security. We are fighting for so much more in the areas of salary, appointment, workload, Academic Freedom, and Artificial Intelligence. 

In factfinding, CFA will present its case to a panel consisting of a neutral third party and one representative from each side. Factfinding will conclude with a non-binding recommendation for a settlement. Once the panel finishes its investigation, it will submit its findings and non-binding recommendations privately to both parties. There will then be a 10-day blackout period where both parties can try to settle the agreement before they can publicly share the factfinder report.   

You can find a visual outline of the statutory process here.   

Our proposals address longstanding salary, workload, and equity issues that impact all faculty. It includes expanding access to many benefits of our contract to more faculty, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), creating and improving pathways to permanency for lecturer faculty, reasonable workload, more explicit rights to Academic Freedom, and guardrails for Artificial Intelligence. 

Meanwhile, management has repeatedly failed to take our demands seriously. You can see a side-by-side comparison of our proposals here. 

Our contract was originally set to expire on June 30, but we signed short extensions through September 1, October 31, and December 31, 2025. Then we agreed to extensions through March 31, June 30, and July 31, 2026. 

We have not signed an extension since then.  

The CFA Bargaining Team holds town hall meetings over Zoom when we can provide updates. The team shares updates on where we are in the bargaining statutory process and responds to questions. Only CFA members can attend and participate in these town halls (if you are not a member, sign up here). 

Every campus is represented at the table, and we encourage you to be in touch with your CFA chapter leadership to connect to representatives from your campus who are on the bargaining team. You can also read updates in CFA’s Headlines newsletter and on our bargaining website.   

We proposed that the faculty full-time equivalent (FTE) salary shall be at least 10% of the CSU Chancellor’s base salary. Currently, it would be at least $79,500.  

Additionally, we proposed a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 2%. We are proposing COLA to be effective every year starting September 1.  

Also, we proposed Post-Promotion Increases (PPI) of 2.65% for both 2025-26 and 2027-28. We proposed Service Salary Increases (SSI) of 2.65% every year, too.  

Furthermore, we proposed a system-wide equity program of  $10 million in compensation increases to address issues of salary inversion, salary compression, and other forms of salary inequities.  

You can read our full salary proposal here.  

SSIs refer to upward movement on the salary schedule. We are currently bargaining for an SSI increase of 2.65% every year. 

To be eligible for an SSI increase, faculty must have worked the equivalent of at least 24 Weighted Teaching Units (WTIs) since their most recent SSI or their initial appointment. 

If you are eligible, you can receive SSIs in years when they are funded. Only one SSI is awarded per year, and members who have reached the SSI max in their range are ineligible.  

SSIs generally amount to a 2.65% raise each time. 

We win SSIs during our bargaining negotiations, so make sure to get involved and stay up to date in bargaining. 

PPIs are intended for full professors, Lecturer D faculty, and equivalent librarian, counselor, and coaching faculty ranks who have already hit the SSI max in their range. 

We have proposed a  PPI increase of 2.65% for 2025-26 and 2027-28. 

Check your appointment letter if you are unsure of your range. Then view the salary schedule here to determine where you are. 

The purpose of equity increases are to help repair inequitable situations like salary inversion (i.e., when new faculty are paid more than long-term faculty) and compression (i.e., when there is little to no difference in pay between faculty, despite differences in tenure and experience). 

The last equity increases of $2 million were distributed in Fiscal Year 2014-15. 

We are currently bargaining for $10 million in equity increases for 2027-28 and new eligibility requirements, which include instances where: 

1. Your salary is inverted or compressed in relation to similarly situated colleagues. 

2. Your salary is inverted or compressed due to historical wrongs related to race, gender, sexuality, or other Article 16 categories and intersections. 

You are not eligible if you are a rehired annuitant or a participant in the Faculty Early Retirement Program. 

Because of inflation, the dollar doesn’t go as far as it once did. Employers need to consider the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), or an increase in pay or benefits to cover the rising cost of goods and services. 

COLA is generally proportionate to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a measurement of inflation. The amount one should expect in COLA depends on which CPI the government or the employer uses in their calculation. 

There are two types of CPIs: (1) All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and (2) Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). 

In our current bargaining, we are proposing that—for every year on September 1—we should receive COLA in the amount of CPI for CPI-U (for the previous fiscal year) plus 2%.  

For instance, if the CPI were 3% for Fiscal Year 2024-25, then COLA would be 3% plus 2%, for a total of 5%. 

Management proposed a one-time taxable bonus equal to 3% of each faculty’s base pay for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Neither the CSU or the employee would make a CalPERS contribution on this payment, which wouldn’t be processed until the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year. 

Additionally, the funds used to pay for this one-time compensation comes from the $144 million state loan we received, which we have urged management to spend on restoring programs and premature job cuts. 

A one-time bonus is not a substitute for fair compensation, and it severely shortchanges faculty.  

The chancellor’s offer is likely a tactic for refusing real salary increases at the bargaining table, and we will not accept it. She has also attempted to communicate directly with faculty members about their pay rather than through our CFA Bargaining Team. Such behavior is disrespectful and weakens our ability to collectively bargain fairly. 

What we are proposing is fair and just compensation that can truly impact the lives of faculty members. 

You can find all of the CFA Bargaining Team’s and CSU management’s proposals on our bargaining website. We are also posting proposals on CFA’s Instagram. Updates are shared in CFA’s Headlines newsletter as well.