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The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

Live Updates: CFA strikes at SFSU

The second day of CFA rolling strikes continues
CFA+and+Teamsters+strike+at+19th+and+Holloway+by+the+public+transportation+hub+at+SF+State+on+Dec.+5%2C+2023.+%28Dmitry+Berdnikov+%2F+Special+for+Golden+Gate+Xpress%29+
CFA and Teamsters strike at 19th and Holloway by the public transportation hub at SF State on Dec. 5, 2023. (Dmitry Berdnikov / Special for Golden Gate Xpress)

7 p.m.

The group dispersed around 7 p.m. at 19th and Holloway.

“This was a total triumph,” said Brad Erickson, the CFA-SFSU chapter president. “This is union –– this is the power of the union.”

Erickson said many CFA officials and members will be heading to Long Beach in a week to meet with CSU mangement to negotiate. He says if the two sides don’t come up with a deal, all the campuses will strike together in the spring.

“Yeah, this is the warm up for what will happen in spring if they don’t come with a better deal,” Erickson said.

3:55 p.m.

Parking Lot 20 location have merged with 19th and Tapia Drive picketers. The science building picketers marched to 19th and Holloway. By 5 p.m., all Tapia Drive picketers will have joined the 19th and Holloway picketers.

Picketers who were near the science building march to 19th and Holloway on Dec. 5, 2023 at SFSU. (Neal Wong/Golden Gate Xpress) (Neal Wong)

3:00 p.m.

Reporting by Michelle Ruano Areolla from Tapia Drive

Strikers dispersed back to their original four locations following a brief stint surrounding 19th and Holloway for lunch. According to CFA SFSU chapter president Brad Erickson, there appeared to be some commotion about a conflict with the police regarding their placement around the street.

Police officers standing guard in front of Marcus Hall at San Francisco State University on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Michelle Ruano/Golden Gate Xpress) (Michelle Ruano)

11 police and security officers have been monitoring the area from across the street of the Tapia Strike location.

12:40 p.m.

Reporting by Daniel Hernandez at 19th and Holloway

San Francisco District 1 supervisor Connie Chan addressed the crowd at 19th and Holloway, along with political activist and drag performer Honey Mahogany. Chan has been serving District 1 –– covering the Richmond District and parts of Golden Gate Park –– since 2021. Mahogany became the first transgender person to serve on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee in 2018 and later was a candidate for San Francisco District 6 supervisor in 2022. Assemblymember Phil Ting was also present.

Supervisor Connie Chan addresses the CFA strike participants at San Francisco State University on Dec. 5, 2023. (Daniel Hernandez / Golden Gate Xpress) (Daniel Hernandez)

11:23 a.m.

Reported by Michelle Ruano Areolla, Neal Wong and Sunthi Jong

Strikers have started to march on campus, including stops inside Burk Hall and the Liberal College Arts building. The different strike locations have begun to merge near the Student Center building. They’re planning to march to 19th and Holloway for lunch.

10:04 a.m.

Reporting by Adriana Hernandez, Matthew Ali and Neal Wong from SFSU

Some faculty have still decided to hold classes for students.

Leo Cruz –– a faculty lecturer in the counseling department at SFSU –– opted not to cancel his applied career counseling course, scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., which has 11 students.

A student gives their final presentation in a classroom in Burk Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 at 10:10 am. Classes that are being held can be heard throughout the hallways due to other classes being cancelled. (Andrew Fogel / Golden Gate Xpress) (Andrew Fogel)

Obviously, it’s a tricky position to be in,” Cruz said. “This is a counseling program so there’s certain things that we have to meet. I really had to kind of reflect back. There’s this class of 11 students and then there’s like all of these other things that would impact their grades and all of that stuff –– some of them are gonna graduate this year.”

Cruz, who says he expresses solidarity with the CFA, stated that teaching at SFSU is not his full-time job. A battle with COVID during the early weeks of the semester caused his class to fall behind.

“It’s hard. Obviously, the easy solution would be just don’t have class because then the other thing is I could have just done Zoom, but that defeats the purpose because it’s like you’re supposed to not have a class at all –– no emails, no class. That’s kind of where I’m coming from. I know obviously that’s not the answer that they would want. I basically just come in and I teach and I don’t really have a lot of rapport with the program.”

Students are wondering about the campus, confused if classes are still happening. Some professors did not inform students if they would hold classes or not.

“No, actually he said nothing.  So I’m just gonna assume there’s class,” said Lawrence Chiu, a computer science major. “I don’t know, I’m just gonna go check. If there isn’t,  I’m just gonna go home.”

The Winter Arts and Crafts Fair, which is currently being held in the Cesar Chavez Student Center and was busy on Monday, remains mostly empty due to the lack of classes and foot traffic. (Andrew Fogel / Golden Gate Xpress) (Andrew Fogel)

Businesses on campus are still mostly open, however with very few attendance. The Winter Arts & Crafts Fair at Cesar Chavez Student Center is open but with very little foot traffic.

Adrian Smith, customer service team lead at SFSU Bookstore and recent graduate from SFSU is currently at work at the bookstore. 

“I gotta pay my bills. I support the people on strike, but I have to pay my bills or else I’ll be out on the street,” Smith said. “It’s like I want to support the strike but hey, I gotta take care of myself.”

9:35 a.m.

Reporting by Sophia Osborn from 19th and Holloway

Several student groups have been protesting hand-in-hand with striking faculty.

“$54,000 a year is unlivable,” said Julia Calderon, the Young Democratic Socialists of America social media personnel. “I make more than that and I’m a student, which is ridiculous. It is absolutely insane and it makes me really sad and I just want to see them be paid for what they do.”

Participants are traveling from outside the Bay Area to protest –– many from other CSU campuses.

CFA union members protest at 19th and Holloway during the second day of rolling strikes in the CSU system at SFSU on Dec. 5, 2023. (Kayla Williams / Contributor Golden Gate Xpress)

Mary Mangubat came from Cal Poly Humboldt State University to show solidarity. Mangubat, a native of San Francisco, currently works for quality education as an intern under the CFA. 

“Get your shit together. It’s been years, we’re constantly fighting,” Mangubat said. “You guys make so much money and you’re gonna make the students with their tuition increase, hike that shit up and expect us to pay when when they have the money when they have billions in reserves, they’re putting their money in really weird areas that make no sense why they’re funding that and they won’t try and settle a contract with our faculty. It’s just insane.”

8:40 a.m.

Reported by Michelle Ruano Arreola at Tapia Drive

Strike participants at Tapia Drive have migrated toward the 19th and Holloway location. Former SFSU CFA chapter president and current tenure-track representative James Martel acknowledged the lecturer and class cuts being made to SFSU by criticizing the amount of money the CSU system has in reserves.

“My big problem with it is they think they’re a private corporation with a side gig as a public university, whereas it should be the other way around,” Martel said. “I think tuition should be free. I think room and board should be paid for and I think we should all get living wages as faculty.”

Anne Linton is a french professor in the department of modern languages and literatures. She’s been at SFSU for more than a decade and says the rising inflation –– especially in the Bay Area –– has caused significant pay cuts and loss of benefits, including health insurence.

So many classes have been cut already, the lecturer faculty do not have a living wage right now,” Linton said. “Classes are cut and people have lost their health insurance. It’s just super important that we can offer a really high quality education to our students –– the promise that we’ve made to them.”

Linton, a resident of Sacramento, commutes to campus –– a five-hour roundtrip drive if traffic is feesible. She says the issues are affecting her family, too.

“My son’s daycare went up by $500 a month. Just after the pandemic, there’s been tons of daycare closures. People are commuting from super far, I come from Sacramento. It’s like a five hour round trip on a good day to even get to campus. So it’s crazy. Yeah, we need a fair salary. Yeah, fair contract.”

8:06 a.m.

Reported by Letícia Luna on Campus and Michelle Ruano Arreola at Tapia Drive

“We respect our employees’ labor rights. The University remains open today as we continue to prioritize students’ learning and progress toward graduation,” said SFSU President Lynn Mahoney in an email.

Mahoney said that all labor negotiations are handled at the state level at the CSU Chancellor’s office. “I remain hopeful that the CSU reaches an agreement with the CFA as they have done with other unions,” said Mahoney.

According to Bobby King, director of communications for the president’s office, Mahoney is attending a remote CSU meeting and is not on campus. Strikers chant Mahoney’s name on Tapia Drive.

7:40 a.m.

Reported by Michelle Ruano Arreola at Tapia Drive
Strikers walk by the administration building on the way to 19th and Holloway on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 at 8:35 am. (Andrew Fogel/Golden Gate Xpress)

Teamsters Local 2010 –– an organization that represents roughly 1,100 skilled trade workers across 22 of the 23 CSU campuses ––has joined SFSU faculty at the picket line. After previously striking themselves across every CSU campus on Nov. 14, Teamsters will participate in all four rolling strikes across the state this week.”We are fighting for unfair labor practice against CSU. We are behind all the other public or private trades throughout the state and we’re just looking for fair pay,” said Debbie Elia, a member of Teamsters and the project supervisor for housing at SFSU.

Teamsters members stood in front of the West Campus Green project in an attempt to shut down construction for the day, according to Xavier Morgado, an electrician at SFSU.

“We are standing here in front of this job site trying to shut it down so that the skilled trade workers that are working on that job site stand in solidarity with the skilled trade workers that are standing on the sidewalk protesting,” Morgado said. “We’re on the side of faculty. The faculty is on the side of us.”

Golden Gate Xpress covered the previous Teamsters strike on Nov. 14.

7:30 a.m.

Reported by Sophia Osborn, at 19th and Holloway

Strikers start to gather at 19th and Holloway. “We are demonstrating to management that we’re serious about a fair contract and we’re not accepting their crummy offer,” said Brad Erickson, CFA-SFSU chapter president.

7 a.m.

By Letícia Luna

California Faculty Association strikes after impasse with California University System regarding contract negotiations.  Golden Gate Xpress is covering the developments of the second day of rolling strikes live. San Francisco State University is the California University System campus to host the second day of the strike, following California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. This story will be updated throughout the day.

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Andrew Fogel
Andrew Fogel, Photographer
Andrew Fogel is a photographer for Golden Gate Xpress and Xpress Magazine who’s majoring in photojournalism and minoring in labor and employment studies. If he’s not taking photos, Andrew can be found rooting for the various Philadelphia sports teams. He aspires to be either a staff photographer or a sports photographer in the future.
Daniel Hernandez
Daniel Hernandez, Spanish Editor
Daniel Hernandez (he/him) is a transfer student from the Inland Empire majoring in bilingual journalism. He also oversees Golden Gate Xpress' Spanish section. His passion for storytelling and journalism started after he bought his first camera six years ago. What began as a fascination for taking photos and videos grew into a passion for multimedia journalism. When he isn't researching for an article or working as the Spanish editor, he explores the Bay Area or falls down a YouTube rabbit hole. Daniel Hernandez (él/ellos) es un estudiante transferido de Inland Empire con especialización en periodismo bilingüe. También es el editor de la sección en español de Golden Gate Xpress. Su pasión por el periodismo comenzó después de que compró su primera cámara hace seis años. Lo que comenzó como una fascinación por tomar fotografías y vídeos se convirtió en una pasión por el periodismo multimedia. Cuando no está investigando para un artículo o trabajando como editor de la sección en español, explora el Área de la Bahía o cae en una madriguera de YouTube.
Neal Wong
Neal Wong, Co-Copy Editor
Neal Wong (he/him) is a third-year journalism student and minoring in urban studies and planning. He was born and raised in San Francisco and attended Washington High School. He has photographed and written for Golden Gate Xpress first as a contributor, then as a photographer, and now as a copy editor. His photos have also been published by the San Francisco Bay ViewSan Francisco Public Press, Mission Local, and Xpress Magazine. Neal has also created and taught four SFSU Experimental College courses. His hobbies include traveling, cooking, and reading.

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