What are your thoughts about the Strike?

[jayandbutton]

since we have more than 1,000 members and many more on both poly campuses, here's an issue that unites all of us.

several weeks ago, the faculty of the entire CSU system voted in favor of going on strike, citing unfair bargaining by the state regarding salary equity and other compensation and work related issues.

The final tally showed that more than 94 per cent of all CSU faculty who voted said to go forward and execute a work stoppage.

The impact of this is huge. It will be the largest strike in the history of American education, and almost 460,000 CSU students will be affected. Much of the ire stems from the continual and huge raises executives keep getting while some faculty are living in one room apartments in expensive places like san francisco.

a spinoff issue of course is that while executives keep getting more, students keep paying more.

faculty morale on many campuses is at an all time low, and you don't get quality education from unhappy teachers.

comments?

[lakdod]

I agree with the faculty stands with the strike. The faculty and especially the professor are underpaid. This will be interesting how much an impact the strike will have. I know students will be happy to have the possibility if two days off, but I hope they know the reason for the strike. The professors are not only fighting for themselves, but for the better education of students.

[cpptom]

BERKELEY, California (AP) -- Professors for the nation's largest four-year public college system could walk out of California State University classrooms as soon as next month after union leaders announced Wednesday members had authorized a strike.

The vote comes after nearly two years of bargaining have failed to produce an agreement for faculty.

"We are a faculty that is fed up and we're a faculty that's ready to walk off the job," California Faculty Association President John Travis said as he announced results of the vote at the Southern California campus of CSU Dominguez Hills.

Union leaders said if a strike is called it would be limited to two-day actions that rotate from campus to campus to lessen the impact on the system's more than 400,000 students.

Chancellor Charles Reed said in a news release that administrators were doing everything they could to reach a settlement, but if faculty strike, the system has plans in place to minimize disruptions.

In Sacramento, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a news release saying he was optimistic talks would resume.

Nadir Vissanjy, chairman of the California State Student Association, said the organization doesn't have a position on the strike, but it supports having university employees paid competitively.

Both sides agree the professors and lecturers are paid less than peers at comparable institutions. But administrators said they made an offer to increase wages by nearly 25 percent over the next three years.

Union leaders dispute that most faculty would receive that much, questioning the mechanics of how the raises would be structured.

Union officials said about 80 percent of the 11,000 dues-paying faculty eligible to vote on a strike did so and of those, 94 percent endorsed the action. The system has about 23,000 faculty in all.

"We do not want to strike. We want to achieve a settlement, but the administration of the CSU has proven extremely obstinate for the past six months," Travis said.


I'm all for the professor strike. Not lot of people are aware that California are in great need of teachers. The cost of living in SoCal is not cheap and getting more expensive due to inflation and rise in housing cost.
The strikes is not going to be very long so no worries.

[xiaoxue]

i say get it on. we have classes with students sitting on floors. we don't have enough classes to let students graduate on time. we have classes with no equipment that works and sometimes even ones without erasers or light bulbs. you can't learn under these conditions and teachers can't teach. one of my rteachers sez he can't afford to even buy a shack around here. this is ridiculous...the guy is about fifty!

and meanwhile our tuition keeps going up to pay for executives and mansions.

one secertary told me one of the two raises the president got just in this one year was MORE than she makes in a year. and he lives for free in the campus mansion. why doesn't this dude give that money to student scholarships?

[Mike]

Approximately 8,129 faculty members across the 23 CSU campuses voted and of those members, 94 percent voted yes to strike if a contract settlement cannot be reached.
Poly Post


This statement alone says alot of whats on the faculty's mind. They are being underpaid. Imagine 5,000 Cal State faculties going on strike all across California, the Board of Trustees as well as the state governor will listen to the demands. Don't worry if your professor is absent a week or two, it is for the better good of our state education.


"We have indicated both to the fact finder and to the faculty union that we are willing to use the report as the basis for an overall settlement agreement," said Roberta Achtenberg, chair of the CSU Board of Trustees. "We are hopeful that at the end of this process, we will have a finalized agreement so that we can move forward with getting our faculty their salary increases."

The CSU and its faculty union have been negotiating for the past 22 months in an effort to resolve issues including salary and parking fees for faculty. The current contract has been extended a number of times during this period of negotiation.

"The settlement discussion tracks very closely with the fact finder’s recommendations and shows substantial movement from our offer of November 20, 2006” said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "We have shown that we are committed to securing a contract with our faculty union."http://www.calstate.edu/PA/News/2007/extended-talk.shtml

[xiaoxue]

faculty are way underpaid and students are being overcharged for classes they can't get into or classrooms that are too small or don't work.

my girlfriend and i are willing to carry signs and sit it out too. way to go, mike.