Faculty across the California State University system, including at San Jose State, Cal State East Bay, San Francisco State and Sonoma State, are voting on whether to give their union the power to call a strike.
The California Faculty Association, which represents CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, opened its strike authorization vote this week, and chapters are holding campus actions to get members to the polls, some with in-person voting. NBC Bay Area reports that SJSU union members picketed last week over pay that they say can't keep up with a "nightmare" cost of living. Cal State East Bay also rallied, and SF State and Sonoma State followed Wednesday. Nearly two dozen campuses plan rallies through mid-November.
How we got here
According to the union, bargaining began in 2025, and CFA declared impasse in July 2026. After mediation produced tentative agreements on five issues, including sick leave and holidays, the case moved to factfinding, with sessions scheduled for the first half of November.
The ballot spells out the gap. A yes vote authorizes the CFA board to call job actions, up to and including a strike, if the CSU does not settle a contract with improvements on salary, workload and lecturer protections. A no vote accepts what the union describes as the chancellor's last offer: a one-time 3% lump sum, a 3% general salary increase on ratification and other terms.
What it means for students
Nothing changes yet. The union says an authorization vote does not make a strike inevitable, and it will not strike until it is legally allowed to once the bargaining process ends. In November 2011, CSU East Bay and CSU Dominguez Hills held a one-day strike; a planned 2016 systemwide walkout was averted by a last-minute deal.