CFA is dedicated to preserving faculty rights. The
information and resources here are provided to educate faculty
about their rights, which is the first step towards preserving
them. Among these resources are the popular “Faculty Rights 101”
handouts, which cover topics ranging from harassment to layoff
& non-reappointment to workload.
It can be a formidable challenge to understand the Collective
Bargaining Agreement (CBA), or the contract, between CFA and the
CSU administration. Yet, the contract is an essential document
that protects your rights and benefits at work.
I. The Collective Bargaining Agreement Prohibits Discrimination . . .
It is the policy of the CSU to prohibit discrimination against faculty unit employees on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, age, disability, or veteran status, including those defined under the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA). [Article 16.1]
You may already have been there: You suspect that CSU has violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”), but you don’t have the evidence to prove it. But if CSU itself has that evidence, it may have to disclose it to you under the California Public Records Act (“PRA”), the California Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (“HEERA”), or the CBA itself. This handout explains how to use these statutory and contractual tools. Here are some highlights:
If you've been laid off, you can use the attached checklist to determine how to proceed in your situation. Please note that you have not been laid off if either of the following two scenarios describes your situation:
You are a full-time or part-time lecturer with an expired appointment and are being told that there is no longer any work for you at all or that there is not enough work for a subsequent appointment at your prior time base.
You are a part-time lecturer with an active (non-expired) appointment and are being told before the third class meeting that some or all of your classes are being cancelled and you are only being paid for any class hours taught.
If either of these two scenarios describes your situation, you have not been laid off and should not use this checklist.
This handout summarizes your rights under the CFA-CSU Collective
Bargaining Agreement to a one-year appointment [Section I] or a
three-year appointment [Section II], to preference for temporary
work [Section III] and/or "careful consideration" for such work
[Section IV], and to an expedited hearing before a "Permanent
Umpire" if you believe any of these rights have been violated
[Section V]. The handout is not intended to answer all your
questions. Rather, it is intended to enable you to ask the right
questions.
Sometimes, being a chair can feel like being between a rock and a hard place: Like other faculty, you are represented by your union, the California Faculty Association, with respect to the terms and conditions of your own employment. Yet at the same time, you are also asked by the university administration to take actions that directly or indirectly impact the terms and conditions of employment of other faculty. As your union, the California Faculty Association offers you the following "10 Easy 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' for Chairs" that hopefully will make life a little easier for you.
