Professors and staff at 23 California State University Campuses including San Diego State are preparing for a possible strike at the end of the month. The union and CSU administrators have been locked in a labor dispute for more than two years. San Diego State President Stephen Weber says he has mixed feelings about a possible strike. He spoke on KPBS Radio's These Days program.
Weber: They are clearly underpaid. When I say I have mixed feelings about it. The part that I regret is that I believe a strike is going to drive wedges between faculty members themselves. I'm very confident that all of our faculty will be very careful not to do anything that will injury our students or delay their path to graduation. They're all committed to that.
Union members at all 23 state campuses are tallying votes next week on whether to start rolling walkouts by March 30th. CSU officials say they're offering a 25 percent pay raise over four years. But union leaders say the pay hike is not guaranteed because the CSU is relying on the state for the additional funding. They believe the university has enough money right now to lock-in raises.
