CSU faculty see gains in tentative agreement, reached after a single day of historic strike.

Just hours after the first CSU Monterey Bay faculty members took to campus streets in the rain loudly demanding more pay and improved working conditions – joining their colleagues at 22 other California State University campuses on Monday, Jan. 22, in the first strike of its kind in the CSU’s 64-year history – the CSU and California Faculty Association headed back to the bargaining table. By Monday evening, the two sides reached a tentative agreement and the strike was called off.

“This tentative agreement makes major gains for all faculty at the CSU,” CFA President Charles Toombs said in a press release. He credited the collective action of lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians and coaches, including following through with plans for a five-day strike for the success.

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. The tentative agreement reached Monday includes a 5-percent general salary increase for all faculty retroactive to July 1, 2023. Another 5-percent increase will come July 1, 2024.

The lowest-paid faculty will see a $3,000 increase retroactive to July 1, 2023 and another $3,000 bump on July 1, 2024. Currently, the lowest-paid faculty member makes $54,360 annually. Total increases could result in a salary of over $66,000. The contract also includes increasing paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks. It extends the current contract for 2022-24 to June 30, 2025. Union members will vote on the agreement over the next few weeks.