SAN MARCOS, Calif. — More than 29,000 employees across the 23 Cal State University campuses in California are set to go on a week-long strike beginning Monday.

The union, California Faculty Association (CFA) represents the 29,000 faculty members, which include lecturers, coaches, librarians and counselors. This is different than the Teamsters 2010 union, which represents 1,100 skilled trades employees, and reached a separate deal last week amid report of a looming strike.

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The strike is essentially delaying the start of the spring semester at Cal State University San Marcos, and pausing the second week of the semester, if classes are canceled by professors at San Diego State University.

The union, CFA, is bargaining for items including:

“There’s a lot of discontent among our faculty, among our members,” said Michelle Ramos-Pellicia, professor at CSUSM and CFA Chapter President. “Never before have we had a strike of this magnitude, the 23 campuses of the CSU, the biggest, the largest higher education system is going on strike.”

Pellicia said she is not excited the bargaining has come to a strike, but said their ‘final straw’ that caused them to use their power to strike happened at the table last week.

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“On Tuesday, 20 minutes into the bargaining session with the CSU bargaining team, they walked out on us and they imposed their best and final offer,” she added.

​”The California State University (CSU) announced today that it will be providing all instructional faculty, librarians, counselors and coaches with a general salary increase of 5% effective January 31, 2024, concluding contract negotiations and exhausting the state’s impasse process. This decision was made after the latest round of negotiations with the California Faculty Association (CFA) failed to yield an agreement that would provide faculty salary increases while still allowing the CSU to best serve students within the limits of its resources,” the CSU website reads in a post from January 9.

“SDSU remains open. The university is open and will also be open Jan. 22-26, 2024. Instruction, events, support services and other activities will continue during strike activities. SDSU has not canceled classes. However, individual classes may be canceled by faculty members who choose to honor the strike,” the SDSU website reads.

The strike comes after CSU leaders voted in September to raise tuition by 34 percent over the next 4 years.

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