More than 94 percent of voting members of the California Faculty Association said yes to a strike authorization. Those results came out Wednesday.
The CFA comprises the faculty at all 23 California State University campuses.
A strike could happen as soon as January, if a deal can’t be struck. The CFA is demanding a 5 percent raise. The CSU has offered 2 percent.
CFA president Jennifer Eagan called that offer a “pittance.”
Eagan has seen a number of strikes authorized without one actually happening.
“But I think that the faculty right now feels really uniquely disrespected,” Eagan said.
Susan Green is a professor of history and Chicano studies at Chico State, and the treasurer for the CFA. She painted the picture of a particularly impacted faculty in Chico, citing a white paper that came out in March.
“The faculty that lost the most ground financially over the past decade were the faculty at Chico State,” Green said. “That we were the worst campus in the 23-campus system.”
Toni Molle, from the office of CSU Chancellor Timothy White, said that “Compensation remains a top priority, but we have to live within our means.”