Is a CFA strike legal?
Do employees not in Unit 3 have the right to strike in support of the CFA and its members?
May I use vacation or sick leave during the strike days?
May I call in sick during the strike?
May I schedule vacation time during the period of the strike?
May I use my Personal Holiday during a strike?
If I strike, am I abandoning my job and could I get fired?
How do I record the time off work to participate in the strike on my absence report?
Is participation in a lawful strike considered a break in service?
Will temporary faculty lose benefits by participating in a lawful strike?
Will temporary faculty lose their entitlement by participating in the strike?
Can I strike for one day and then chose to go back to work the next day during a strike?
Can I teach my classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and participate in the strike on Tuesday and Thursday when I don’t have classes?
Will I have to call in to my supervisor on the days of the strike?
What is my status as a Department Chair during the strike?
What actions can be taken by a Teaching Associate, Graduate Assistant or Instructional Student Assistant?
May staff members participate in the CFA strike?
If I want to hold classes in an off-campus location, may I?
How much will I receive in strike pay from the union for the days I am on strike?
Do I have to be a union member to receive strike pay?
How much will each day of striking cost me in lost pay?
If I call in and declare I am on strike, but still want to teach my classes, may I?
If I teach one class, but want to strike the remainder of the day, may I?
Will there be a hotline with up-to-date strike information?
As a FERP faculty member, can I strike?
Can I give my students an assignment for the classes they will miss because I’m on strike? Will I get paid if I do this?
If I withhold grades as a manner of striking, is this legal?
Q: Is a CFA strike legal?
A: A strike is not legal during the life of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Article 9 of the Unit 3 Agreement provides:
The current CBA has been extended by the CFA and the CSU until the current Unit 3 Fact-Finding panel makes its report public. Thus, until this event occurs, all strike activity by the CFA or Unit 3 employees is prohibited by the CBA.
In addition, the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act (HEERA), Section 3571.1 makes it unlawful for the CFA, an employee organization, to refuse to participate in good faith in the HEERA impasse procedures, including the Fact-Finding procedures. It would be a violation of HEERA if the CFA were to conduct a strike before the completion of those procedures.
Q: Do employees not in Unit 3 have the right to strike in support of the CFA and its members?
A: All employees in other bargaining units are prohibited from engaging in sympathy strikes by their Collective Bargaining Agreements. Members of other bargaining units are prohibited from all concerted activity by the Concerted Activities Articles of their own Collective Bargaining Agreements. Please click on the following CSU Office of the Chancellor Labor Relations Website for the link for a specific contract, and then click on the “Concerted Activities” article to review these provisions:
http://www.calstate.edu/LaborRel/Contracts_HTML/current_cba.shtml
Q: May I use vacation or sick leave during the strike days?
A: If you participate in a strike, you cannot use vacation or sick leave for the days you participate in the strike. If you have pre-approved, planned leave (vacation or sick leave), which was requested in advance of a strike and in accordance with existing campus policies, you may take that paid leave. However, such leave may not be used to participate in the strike.
Q: May I call in sick during the strike?
A: You may call in sick only if you are actually sick. Sick leave may not be taken for the purpose of participating in a strike. An employee who calls in sick without being sick is committing fraud and this conduct could be grounds for discipline. Sick-outs are not protected activity under HEERA. The granting of sick leave is dependent on the submission of appropriate written documentation of your inability to work due to illness or injury.
Q: May I schedule vacation time during the period of the strike?
A: If you have vacation time already scheduled and approved prior to the strike, you may use it as approved. Requests for use of vacation time during a strike will be reviewed and may be denied due to the needs of the CSU and its students.
Q: May I use my Personal Holiday during a strike?
A: Approval and use of Personal Holidays during a strike will be treated in a similar fashion as vacation time. [Article 33.3 of the Unit 3 CBA provides that the scheduling of the Personal Holiday shall be by mutual agreement of the employee and the appropriate administrator.]
Q: If I strike, am I abandoning my job and could I get fired?
A: No, you are not abandoning your job. Participating in a lawful strike is not grounds for firing
Q: How do I record the time off work to participate in the strike on my absence report?
A: You will report your time as “leave without pay”.
Q: Is participation in a lawful strike considered a break in service?
A: No, striking is not considered a break in service. Although you will not be paid for time you spend participating in the strike, you will remain on pay status unless you are absent from work more than 11 days in a monthly pay period. In that case you will not be eligible for health benefits for the month.
Q: Will temporary faculty lose benefits by participating in a lawful strike?
A: Temporary faculty who currently receive benefits will continue to receive benefits, except as provided above.
Q: Will temporary faculty lose their entitlement by participating in the strike?
A: No. No punitive action may be taken in response to temporary faculty participating in a lawful strike. This includes work assignments, reduction in courses, or termination that is a punitive response to lawful strike activity. However, like tenure-track faculty, temporary faculty will not be paid for striking.
Q: Can I strike for one day and then chose to go back to work the next day during a strike?
A: Yes. However, the CFA may not legally call for intermittent strike action.
Q: Can I teach my classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and participate in the strike on Tuesday and Thursday when I don’t have classes?
A: All faculty members who wish to continue to teach and perform their duties will be expected to attend to all of their educational and academic responsibilities in addition to meeting their classes.
Q: Will I have to call in to my supervisor on the days of the strike?
A: You may choose to notify your department chair, department support staff or the Dean’s office, that you are participating in the strike. In any event, faculty should be mindful of the inconvenience to students if classes are cancelled without notice. You are expected to follow the procedures in the Collective Bargaining Agreement for reporting your absence to the appropriate administrator and completing, signing and returning the campus absence form to the appropriate administrator. Employees who do not report whether they are participating in the strike and do not show up for scheduled work will not be paid for the days they miss work.
Q: What is my status as a Department Chair during the strike?
A: Department Chairs are members of Unit 3, and are represented by the CFA, the faculty union. Chairs may participate in the strike if they so choose. However, Department Chairs who chose not to strike are expected to carry out all responsibilities required by their Deans.
Q: What actions can be taken by a Teaching Associate, Graduate Assistant or Instructional Student Assistant?
A: Teaching Associates, Graduate Assistants and Instructional Student Assistants are members of Unit 11 and are represented by the UAW. The Collective Bargaining Agreement that governs their employment contains language prohibiting all concerted activity, including sympathy strikes. (See Article 5 of CSU/UAW Collective Bargaining Agreement). If a Unit 11 employee chooses to strike, he/she will have their pay docked for the time they miss work and may be subject to disciplinary action
Q: May staff members participate in the CFA strike?
A: All staff collective bargaining agreements contain language prohibiting all concerted activity, including sympathy strikes. Staff who participate in the CFA strike during work time will have their pay docked for the time they miss work and may be subject to disciplinary action.
Q: If I want to hold classes in an off-campus location, may I?
A: Faculty members who wish to continue to come to work are encouraged to hold their classes in the normal location. Approval to schedule courses at a different location during the strike must be obtained from the Dean’s Office.
Q: How much will I receive in strike pay from the union for the days I am on strike?
A: The CSU has no involvement in strike pay or other internal union matters. Please contact the union for these issues.
Q: Do I have to be a union member to receive strike pay?
A: Please contact the union for this information.
Q: How much will each day of striking cost me in lost pay?
A: Each striking employee will have deducted from their pay a pro-rata portion of their monthly pay in accordance with the State Controller’s Office guidelines.
Q: If I call in and declare I am on strike, but still want to teach my classes, may I?
A: Each Unit 3 employee may freely choose whether to engage in a lawfully-called strike by the CFA. Once the decision to strike is made, then presumably the faculty member will not be teaching or performing other work duties. A faculty member who performs all of their assigned duties on a day during the CFA strike is not striking.
Q: If I teach one class, but want to strike the remainder of the day, may I?
A: Faculty members cannot pick and chose which duties they want to perform during a strike day. This conduct is considered a partial strike. Those who engage in a partial strike are engaging in unprotected concerted activity and may be subject to disciplinary action.
Q: Will there be a hotline with up-to-date strike information?
A: Yes. The campus hotline for strike questions from employees is: 437-3179
Q: As a FERP faculty member, can I strike?
A: Yes. For all purposes, FERP faculty members are treated the same as other similarly situated faculty members during the strike. FERP faculty members in a non-pay status during the strike due to their work period schedule are not expected to work and are not entitled to pay.
Q: Can I give my students an assignment for the classes they will miss because I’m on strike? Will I get paid if I do this?
A: Faculty members are not permitted to engage in a partial strike by picking and choosing which duties they want to perform during a strike day. Faculty members who choose to work during the strike should provide the same class instruction as if there were no strike called. Faculty members who choose to strike have chosen not to perform their assigned duties and will not be paid.
Q: If I withhold grades as a manner of striking, is this legal?
A: A faculty member who is on strike and not receiving pay is not obligated to perform assigned duties, including grading. However, all faculty members, whether striking or not, are obligated to furnish administrators upon their request all grade-books or other documents reflecting grading performed prior to the strike.