23 California State University campuses vote on whether or not they will go on strike if they cannot come to a contract agreement in mediation with the university system. The contract dispute is going before a neutral third party and will then be examined to find some form of resolution, a news release from the California Faculty Association said.

Civil Mediation Unresolved, But Not Finished

The vote follows a week after civil mediation between both the university and the faculty failed. A collective bargaining agreement could not be reached and neither side was satisfied. If this last attempt at third party resolution fails to produce an agreement, CSU Chancellor Charles Reed may impose one final contract offer, but the faculty will then have the option to go on strike.

The vote will be ongoing from Monday, April 16th until April 27th. It will determine if faculty grants the California Faculty Association board of directors the authority to call a strike. If the bargaining process fails, this may be the case.

The faculty association represents over 23,000 professors, counselors and different other members of campus staff. The plan will be for two day rolling strikes if the mediation attempts fail. Brian Ferguson, spokesperson for the CFA stated that the strikes may begin at the end of the spring semester or potentially next fall. It will depend on the status of the talks.

The Deadlock in These Mediation Services

The union has said that it opposes the movement of more courses into extension programs and requests greater restrictions to reduce classroom sizes. Salary increases have also been requested for the past two school years and the union wishes to oppose the chancellor's ability to change contract provisions on benefits or wages.

State budget cuts, as well as tuition hikes have raised the union ire. The system has lost $750 million in state funding, and also raised tuition 23.2 percent. When pressed for comment, the Chancellor's office had none.