Sacramento State faculty start one-day strike on Thursday; campus remains open
SACRAMENTO – Sacramento State officials say the campus will remain open on Thursday when faculty plan on holding a one-day strike.
The strike is part of a series of organized labor actions across California State University campuses this week.
The California Faculty Association, which represents more than 29,000 instructors across the college system, has been seeking a 12 percent salary raise and an increase from six weeks to a full semester of parental leave.
Other demands include more manageable workloads and more gender-inclusive bathrooms.
For their part, the CSU chancellor's office has said the pay increase that the union is asking for would cost $380 million in new recurring spending.
Faculty at CSU schools across the state have been holding one-day strikes all week. Cal Poly Pomona, San Francisco State, and CSU Los Angeles have all already seen faculty hit the picket line. Sacramento State faculty plan on striking on Thursday.
Sac State students are being urged to prepare for the planned strike by contacting their instructors. Students shouldn't assume that their classes have been canceled for the day, Sac State officials say.
The Sac State campus will also stay open on Thursday, officials say, and most student services and resources will also be open.
Teamsters Local 2010 and student activists are expected to join faculty on the picket line Thursday.
CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith said in a statement to CBS Sacramento that the CSU is willing to get back to negotiations. She continued:
"We believe that issues should be resolved through bargaining. We are committed to negotiating a pay increase for faculty, as we have done with four other employee unions. The CSU is committed to making additional salary increases for faculty, but must be balanced against the need to be fiscally sustainable."
