More than 1,000 state scientists in California have gone on strike for three days, demanding higher wages for their work. The strike highlights the issue of unrecognized work in a state that sets environmental policy trends nationally and globally. This development aligns with the ongoing efforts to expand workers' rights and fair pay.
Now, faculty at California State University, the largest public university system in the US, are planning a week-long strike to demand a 12% pay increase. The strike will involve the 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, and coaches at all 23 campuses. The California Faculty Association, the worker union, has asked for a three-year contract with a 12% pay increase. The union overwhelmingly approved plans for the strike after negotiations with CSU administrators broke down. CSU administrators offered a 5% raise starting this month, but the union argues that the 12% increase is necessary to address the low pay of its faculty members. CSU leadership claims that the 12% demand is unaffordable and has recommended a 7% raise instead. The strike comes just a year after a 32-day strike at the University of California system, involving nearly 50,000 teaching assistants and other unionized academic workers. The strike is part of a trend of increased labor unrest in higher education and other sectors of the US economy since the pandemic.
This development further emphasizes the growing labor unrest in higher education and other sectors of the US economy, with workers demanding fair pay and better working conditions [fa05fc43].