A renewed conversation between the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the California State University (CSU) system has opened the possibility that the upcoming CFA strike could be cancelled.
According to an email from the CFA, the CFA and CSU management entered into a new conversation on April 5 to settle contract disputes and try to prevent the strike from occurring April 13-15 and April 18-19. The faculty are planning on striking for a 5 percent raise, instead of taking the 2 percent raise they have been offered by CSU management.
CSU Chancellor Timothy White, who was present at the CFA-CSU meeting for the first time, expressed similar concerns as the CFA in regard to the aftermath of a strike and its effects on students, faculty and the administration, according to the email.
Both the Chancellor and CFA are concerned with the aftermath that a strike could have on a CSU system in terms of students, faculty and the administration.
Therefore, CFA and CSU have come to mutual agreement for a 48-hour “blackout period.” Neither side will speak to the media until the blackout is over.
Over the next two days, both sides will work to formulate a consensus on faculty contracts and lead to an improved relationship between the faculty and administration.
The CFA has asked that faculty put all strike preparations on hold while discussions are underway. If no agreement is reached by Friday, April 8, the strike will begin as planned on April 13.
Occupy Dexter, a student rally in support of the faculty strike, was going to take place on Thursday, April 7. However, due to the postponement of strike preparations, this event has been cancelled until further notice.