About 29,000 professors, librarians, maintenance workers, and other employees at the 23 campuses of the California State University walked off the job on Monday, beginning a massive education strike at the public university system with an enrollment of 457,992 students.
Employees at Cal State’s 23 campuses across California walked off the job Monday.
The California Faculty Association, the union that represents 29,000 workers across the state, walked off the job at each Cal State campus on Monday morning, beginning the first strike ever conducted at the university on the first day of classes after students returned for the spring semester.
The CFA said they gave Cal State management four contract proposals on January 8, but were met with “disrespect” from the university.
The union’s board of directors voted to authorize the strike through Friday, January 26.
Striking employees are asking for a 12% raise across the board, as well as more student mental health services, limited police presence on campuses and parental leave.
Cal State offered the workers a 5% wage increase, small salary increases for department chairpersons and demanded an increased parking fee of $2 per month, according to a letter from the university posted publicly by the union.
Cal State has not returned a request for comment from Forbes, but told the Los Angeles Times that campuses will remain open and classes will remain in session while the strike is ongoing.