After striking for one day, the California State University faculty union reached a tentative agreement with the university that included big raises for the lowest-paid instructors, who comprise more than half of the union’s 29,000 members.

If approved in February, all California Faculty Association members will receive a 5% salary hike retroactive to July 1, 2023, and another 5% raise on July 1, 2024, provided there is sufficient state funding. The minimum pay for lecturers with master’s degrees will increase 21.5%, to $66,000, over two years. Annual salaries for lecturers with the highest degrees in their field would rise 15.7%, to $75,000.

The agreement, which came on the first day of a planned five-day strike, would extend paid parental leave from six to 10 weeks.

Ken Jacobs, a professor and co-chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, said the labor action is part of a continuum of largely successful strikes in recent years that place a “key emphasis on bringing up the bottom of the scale.”

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 24