photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Sonoma State faculty picket at the University's main entrance on East Cotati Avenue on Monday,
January 22nd; part of a system wide strike by the California Faculty Association.

Faculty at Sonoma State University walked off the job Monday as their union went on strike across all 23 campuses in the state university system.

Classrooms sat quiet but the professors spoke loudly as Sonoma State faculty and maintenance workers took to the picket lines on the first day of spring instruction at the 5,800 student campus.

SSU faculty are joining with members of the California Faculty Association for the strike.

Elaine Newman, a math professor at SSU, said some 90% of faculty at the school are participating in the strike.

"We've had very little traffic coming into campus," Newman said. "We did a huge amount of organizing before this morning happened. Faculty have been communicating with their students, we're going on strike. We're shutting this campus down 'cause we're fighting for a better CSU for our students and ourselves."

In a statement, the California State University system said talks between administration and the CFA occurred over the weekend, but offered no details.

Late Monday night, the University and the California Faculty Association announced a tentative agreement, bringing a likely end to the strike.

Faculty are asking for 12% pay raises to keep ahead of inflation

And increased base pay and pay equity for faculty, more manageable workloads, more counselors for students, and expanded parental leave, among other demands.

CSU administration says they've offered to accept 13 of 15 fact finding recommendations and provide a 15% pay raise spread over three years, but say an immediate 12% raise would be too costly.

The unions says an independent fiscal analysis of the university shows sufficient cash flow to fund the pay raises. The CSU system is planning to increase tuition starting in the fall of this year.

Newman, also on the California Faculty Association bargaining team, said negotiations have been fraught since the beginning of January.

"I think they desperately didn't want us to go on strike, but if they were really serious about that, they would've stayed at the bargaining table," Newman said. "So as it stands, we've let them know what it would take to get us back to the bargaining table. And right now we're just waiting. We're waiting to hear from them."

Sonoma State’s campus, which normally would be brimming with students returning for the first day of the spring semester, was quiet and subdued, except for the three main entrances where CFA members set up their picket lines; students for most part kept away by the strike and the occasional burst of rain.

Junior transfer students, Mace and Molly, said they, and the students they’ve spoken with, are supportive of the striking faculty.

"I've seen like the work that my professors were putting in, and here at least, I feel that they've really gone like above and beyond to, you know, support me as a student," said Mace. "So I'll wanna do anything I can to like support them."

"I agree," Molly said. "I feel the same way. Teachers really deserve better pay."

One picketing faculty member pushed back on the idea that professors are selfishly striking, and lamented the walk out, but said it seems to be the only way to his mind that public educators get their needs met.

Martha Byrne, a math professor at Sonoma State, said she’s been forced to move herself and her children into a 2 bedroom home shared with three other roommates just to make ends meet.

"We're really struggling and I don't wanna have to leave California," Byrne said. "I don't wanna have to leave the CSU. I love my students and what I do, but the situation's getting pretty untenable, which is why we're out here."

Newman said the strike is about fighting for a better CSU for students and staff.

"Budgeting is a moral decision on behalf of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees," Newman said. "We want them to spend money on direct instruction. That means faculty salaries. We want them to put reasonable caps on our course sizes. We want them to hire more mental health counselors for our students."

While the CSU has agreed a new contract with the university system's maintenance employees represented by the Teamster 2010 union, Teamsters 2010 members are joining the picket lines with Sonoma State faculty.

The CSU-wide strike was scheduled to end on Friday, January 26th, but with Monday evening's tentative agreement, faculty are expected to be back in the classroom Tuesday.

In a press release the California Faculty Association said the tentative agreement includes faculty-wide salary raises; raises to the base pay of the lowest paid CFA members; increased parental leave; union representation for faculty dealings with university police, improved access to gender inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces, and an extension of the current contract to 2025.