CSU strike is declared over before it had barely begun after faculty and administrators reach an agreement.

One day of faculty pulling out of classes and walking the picket line across the entire 23-campus California State University system, including CSU Monterey Bay, was all it took for the CSU and California Faculty Association to come back to the bargaining table and reach a tentative contract agreement on late Monday, Jan. 22, marking the end to the strike, the first of its kind in the CSU’s 64-year history.

“The collective action of so many lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians, and coaches over these last eight months forced CSU management to take our demands seriously,” said CFA President Charles Toombs in a press release. “This tentative agreement makes major gains for all faculty at the CSU.”

The union had been pushing for a 12 percent increase in salaries this year, while the CSU was holding firm at 5 percent per year over three years. Anything more would mean “massive layoffs,” CSU representatives said on Jan. 16, six days before the planned strike.

Late Monday the two sides announced that they had tentatively agreed to a 5-percent general salary increase for all faculty retroactive to July 1, 2023, plus a 5-percent increase on July 1, 2024.

They also agreed to raise the salary floor of the lowest-paid faculty in two salary ranges by $3,000, retroactive to July 1, 2023, with an additional $3,000 increase on July 1, 2024. For example, a faculty member making the minimum of $54,360 annually could by this July be making over $66,000, taking all increases into account.

In addition, the agreement calls for a salary step increase of 2.65 percent in 2024-25.

Other issues they came to an agreement on included increasing paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks, improving access to gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces and extending the current contract for 2022-24 by one year to June 30, 2025.

“This historic agreement was won because of members’ solidarity, collective action, bravery, and love for each other and our students,” said Antonio Gallo, associate vice president of lecturers, south. “This is what People Power looks like. This deal immensely improves working conditions for faculty and strengthens learning conditions for students.”

That solidarity was on display at CSUMB on Monday morning, as dozens of faculty and their supporters, including some students, picketed in the rain at university entrances and later marched across campus. It's unclear how many classes were canceled due to the strike. Students were told to report for all classes on Tuesday. 

The more strident tone CSU administrators adopted last week in a bargaining session on Jan. 16 and a virtual press briefing on Jan. 19 was softened in a statement by CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia after the tentative agreement was reached.

“I am extremely pleased and deeply appreciative that we have reached common ground with CFA that will end the strike immediately," Garcia said. “The agreement enables the CSU to fairly compensate its valued, world-class faculty while protecting the university system's long-term financial sustainability. With the agreement in place, I look forward to advancing our student-centered work—together—as the nation's greatest driver of social mobility and the pipeline fueling California's diverse and educated workforce."

CFA members will vote in coming weeks on whether to ratify the agreement.