Cal State faculty approve new salary agreement

California State University faculty members voted in favor of a new agreement with the nation’s largest public university system.

After eight months and two strikes, 76% of California Faculty Association members, which represents about 29,000 professors and lecturers, voted in favor of an agreement that would provide two salary increases totaling more than a 10% raise for all faculty in the next six months. Voting on the agreement started last week and ended Sunday.

CSU trustees must approve the agreement, which is expected to happen at their next meeting in March.

“We will continue advocating against management’s self-defeating austerity policies, affordability and access for students, and combatting anti-Black racism to create campuses that serve all of us,” said Sharon Elise, a CFA associate vice president of racial and social justice and a CSU San Marcos professor. “We know that some members had strong concerns about the process and questions about the result. We will only be successful if we’re working together to continue building a CSU that empowers students and provides work environments that support faculty and staff.”