California Faculty Association marches on the Chancellors office...
...to demand fair salaries for CSU faculty.
This is the vanguard of the California Faculty Association march coming over a bridge on Golden Shore in Long Beach on Tuesday, Nov. 17 during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting. This is what more than a thousand angry faculty activists looks like. I was inside the big puppet with the blue mortar board right behind the banner. I couldn't see behind myself while in the puppet, so I this is my first full view of the crowd, but when the march captain was holding the front back to allow the rest of the march to catch up with the leaders, just before this pic was shot, I could hear the marchers behind me. The crowd sounded like some vast machine throbbing and shrieking. It was otherworldly. Horns were blowing and drums were pounding, and the noise was terrific.
We took our message to the California State University Board of Trustees. It was noisy, boisterous, and in their face. Faculty salaries have been stagnant for nearly a decade, while university administrators have rewarded themselves handsome raises and enriched the CSU managerial class. Enough is enough! The CFA membership overwhelmingly authorized the CFA to call a strike if we don't achieve a fair contract settlement-- 94.4% in favor. I don't think the Chancellor believes we're serious. Maybe a thousand and more faculty pounding drums on his front lawn all day will convince him otherwise.
Solidarity!
