The Time has Come to Take “Take Class Action”
Tomorrow – Wednesday April 13, 2011 – faculty members on all 23 campuses in the CSU system will join together with students and staff to take “Class Action” in defense of public higher education.
Will you be there?
To send a strong message, this day needs you -- the faculty members as well as the students and staff — to show up and show you care. This action is critical in the fight to win a fair contract for faculty and staff and protect quality education for students.
“Tomorrow, it's our turn to keep the daringly radical but unfailingly simple notion of the CSU alive — the idea that no matter where you're born or how little your parents have, no matter what you look like or what you believe in, you can still receive an affordable, accessible and high quality education in the California State University,” said CFA president Lillian Taiz, a professor of History at CSU Los Angeles.
Faculty, Students Across the Country Hold April Actions
Throughout the country faculty, students and union members already have begun to take “class action” for quality education and to protect unions’ rights and vital services for the public.
In Washington State, thousands of union members and educators poured into the state Capitol Friday calling on lawmakers to "put people first" by ending corporate tax breaks and painful cuts to colleges and other public programs.
Buses began arriving at the Capitol hours before the noon rally, carrying faculty members, students, iron workers, firefighters and others concerned about the scarcity of jobs, the rising cost of college and the security of their pensions. The Washington State Patrol estimated 7,000 people gathered outside the main legislative building, while labor group leaders put the figure closer to 12,000.
Protesters said they hoped the demonstration would be a powerful reminder to lawmakers about who is being affected by their decisions.
"We need to remind them that we need changes right now, not later," said Tim Haslett, an electrical worker and father of five from Seattle who has been unemployed for most of the past two years. "I'm trying to do everything I can to pay for my youngest daughter to go to college next year, but I don't know how I'm going to be able to do that if there are no jobs."
On April 13, colleges and universities throughout the country will join with CFA’s efforts here in California and take “Class Action” in support of quality education.
Scroll down to the bottom of the
list of April 13 events to see actions that are taking place on (and near) colleges campuses outside of California.
These Actions in April are a prelude to the launch of a national campaign by faculty organizations on public college and university campuses. On May 17, the “Campaign for the Future of Higher Education” will officially launch at a news conference in Washington DC.
CFA Assembly Adopts Resolution to Escalate Contract Campaign
At the 74th CFA Assembly – held last weekend in San Francisco – chapter delegates unanimously approved a resolution proclaiming April 13 the beginning of CFA’s campaign to win a fair contract.
The resolution authorizes the union to escalate its tactics, stating in part:
It has been nine months since our last contract expired. Having seen very little progress at the bargaining table to date, we affirm the following:
Assuming the faculty contract is not settled this spring, the 74th CFA Assembly urges local chapter and statewide governance to plan and implement activities and actions designed to pressure the CSU and its bargaining team to agree to a fair contract. These activities should include:
- Actions in May and throughout the summer that will pressure the Chancellor and selected CSU Trustees;
- Escalating actions during the opening weeks of the fall term that will galvanize the campuses and encourage even broader participation among the faculty, students, and staff;
More details on the other goings-on at the CFA Assembly will appear in a future edition of CFA Headlines.
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