Long labor dispute sparks CCA strike
More than 100 California College of the Arts faculty members, students and supporters marched in front of CCA’s San Francisco campus Tuesday morning to the beat of drums and maracas to begin what they expected would be weeklong strike, the latest turn in a long-running labor dispute at the college.
CCA staff emptied their classrooms to protest what they described as unlivable wages, a lack of job security and accusations of unfair labor practices.
The walkout, which protesters said was the first at a private California college since 1976, was presaged last December, after 97% of voting staff members in San Francisco and Oakland authorized union officials to strike, citing an impasse in the contract-bargaining process.
CCA administration argues that the claims made by the union lack merit and are confident that they will soon come to a contract that both parties can agree on.
“We’re out here to show support,” said CCA junior Kamau Kokayi-Taylor.
“I just want (administration) to be empathetic. It seems like ... they’re not taking into consideration what everyone else is going through.”
Matt Kennedy, a chapter president with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and a studio manager at CCA, said the cost of living in the Bay Area demanded higher wages for the college’s employees. Kennedy said that some staff members make as little as $36,000 a year. He and other union members want staff to be paid at least $55,000 annually.
“It’s time to start bargaining in good faith,” Kennedy said. “It’s time to start showing up to the bargaining table ready to get a deal done instead of using strong-arm tactics to force us into a contract that isn’t fair or equitable for our workers.”
The union and CCA administrators have been attempting to negotiate a contract since 2019.
Kennedy and other staff members at the strike claimed that over the past two years of negotations, the college has stalled progress by being unprepared and unwilling to listen to the union’s key priorities. When the bargaining began in October 2019 and the union introduced its compensation proposal, Kennedy said the college didn’t address the proposal until the vote to strike.
CCA spokesperson David Owens-Hill said the college remains ready to negotiate with the unionized staff to achieve a fair and mutually beneficial contract. In CCA’s collective bargaining fact check, the college responded to the claims made by the union.
“Our goal is to work together to reach an agreement as quickly as possible and return everyone’s full energy and focus to our core mission of educating students,” Owens-Hill said.
According to OwensHill, the college has a comprehensive proposal on the table that provides wage increases for staff while also maintaining their commitment to student financial aid and a financially sustainable future for the college.
Kennedy said that an ideal contract needs to address the need for every worker. He said that a sustainable living wage would cut down on the turnover rate of the college, which has created an unstable learning environment for both teachers and students.
“They’re treating us like terrorists. Like we’re holding them hostage just because we’re asking for a fair contract that has livable wages for our workers,” he said. “What they don’t want to tell us is that when we organize and when we build power, we win demands in the workplace. And I think that that’s something every worker needs to understand.”