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Ten years have passed since CFA\u2019s \u201cFight for Five\u201d contract campaign. It was a moment where faculty and communities from across California\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0what collective action could achieve. All of us fought hard together and won a substantial 10.5% General Salary Increase (GSI) for CSU faculty in 2016 and 2017.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The campaign garnered significant support from legislators and local communities, and it brought long-standing inequities in CSU compensation between faculty and CSU executives into public view.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CFA\u2019s \u201cRace to the Bottom: CSU\u2019s 10-year Failure to Fund its Core Mission<\/a>\u201d report found that in 2014, more than 50% of CSU faculty were making\u00a0less than $38,000 in gross earnings per year. Moreover, the average CSU faculty salary in 2013 had less purchasing power than it did in 2003 on every single campus. While faculty were struggling to make ends meet, management prioritized the CSU\u2019s money elsewhere.\u00a0In 2004 to 2014, we saw an\u00a0increase of 48% in expenditures on managers<\/a>, despite the CSU net operating budget growing by only 33%.\u00a0In contrast, expenditures on faculty salaries only grew by 25%.\u00a0Over that decade, the number of managers also increased by 19.2% while the number of tenure-line faculty fell by 3%.\u00a0<\/p>\n Growing concerns about spending became more\u00a0apparent\u00a0when wasteful supplemental\u00a0compensation\u00a0was given to presidents. In 2011, Jeffrey Armstrong, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo president, was given $19,179 to\u00a0relocate\u00a0his home and $30,447 for fees and other expenses associated with selling his home. Armstrong, who received an\u00a0additional\u00a0$100,000 annually following the CSU Board of Trustees vote in November 2025, now makes\u00a0$611,203\u00a0in base pay alone<\/a>. That number could\u00a0be supplemented with\u00a0another\u00a015%\u00a0($91,680)\u00a0after his next performance review.\u00a0<\/p>\n Against the backdrop of these exorbitant payouts to the top 1% of CSU employees, the then-CSU Chancellor Timothy White refused to offer faculty anything more than a 2% raise during collective bargaining. For faculty earning $40,000, a 2% raise would equate to a measly $800 that would hardly offset surging prices in housing, food, utilities, transportation, and healthcare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Enough was enough.\u00a094% of voting CFA members supported authorizing strike actions from April 13 through April 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n Embed video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/lXE5jHUVdYY?si=Pa8IePoh201khzb4\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFaculty were ready to strike,\u201d\u00a0recalled\u00a0Michelle Ramos\u00a0Pellicia, CFA Vice President and CSU San Marcos professor. \u201cWe were outraged at management stonewalling what everyone else knew was just and fair.\u00a0But,\u00a0it might have\u00a0been for\u00a0the best. Faculty, students, staff, community members, as well as legislators turned out in droves at our rallies across California and at the state\u00a0capitol\u00a0in April 2016 to demand fair compensation. The CSU was\u00a0alive\u00a0and our message of injustice was amplified around the state! We were organized, we were angry, and we won.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Just one week before the planned strike, management agreed to resume negotiations. Both CFA and management came away from the talks announcing a\u00a0tentative agreement<\/a>, which included a 5% GSI on June 30, 2016, a 2% GSI on July 1, 2016, and a 3.5% GSI on July 1, 2017. In addition, eligible faculty would also receive a 2.65% Service Salary Increase (SSI) during the Fiscal Year 2017-18 effective on the faculty\u2019s anniversary date. Finally, the minimum increase\u00a0on\u00a0promotion would also be increased from 7.5% to 9% effective July 1, 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n 97% of voting CFA members strongly supported ratifying the tentative agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was a union member but never active until our Fight for Five,\u201d said Vang\u00a0Vang, CFA Treasurer and Fresno State librarian. \u201cKnowing that our union siblings were there with us, and students and their parents were kept informed about our ongoing struggles to buy groceries, pay bills, and support our families,\u00a0made me pick up that pen to make that sign and write my name on the picket line form.\u00a0More than\u00a03,200 delegates from the California Democratic Party<\/a>\u00a0voted to endorse our campaign.\u00a0What made me stay active since our Fight for Five\u00a0was\u00a0not\u00a0only were\u00a0we very much in the right, but we\u00a0were also together.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Then, more recently, in 2024, CFA members secured further economic gains after two separate strike actions in December 2023 and January 2024.\u00a0We won a 5% GSI for all faculty retroactive to July 1, 2023, as well as a 5% GSI on July 1,\u00a02024\u00a0and a 2.65% SSI for the 2024-25 academic year for all eligible faculty. In addition, we raised the floor for the lowest-paid faculty in salary\u00a0Range\u00a0A\u00a0by $6,000\u00a0and\u00a0Range\u00a0B by $3,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n But CFA members also recognize that fair compensation alone does not entail a more inclusive and\u00a0equitable\u00a0CSU. We also fought to ensure that parenting faculty get more time to spend with their new children, that there are greater protections when interacting with police, that there are improvements in access to lactation spaces and gender-inclusive restrooms, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n