‘It’s a win-win’: Sonoma State University students and staff back to classes after historic strike

Meri Storino, a psychology and counseling lecturer at Sonoma State University, swiftly glided a suitcase alongside her as she headed to her first class of the semester Tuesday morning, the day after a planed five-day strike had started and ended.

Monday’s strike, which took place across the California State University's 23 campuses, was the first in Sonoma State’s 64-year history.

It pulled faculty and students to the picket line, as they rallied for a 12% salary increase and longer paid parental leave among other things.

“Firstly, I’m grateful it’s over for the students,” said Storino as she headed up the elevator of Salazar Hall. “But I'm also grateful for the lecturers. We’ll get a bump, but I haven’t read over the whole agreement yet.”

On Monday evening, Cal State negotiators had sent the bargaining team the outline of a deal that included a retroactive 5% raise to July 1, 2023 and a second 5% raise effective July 1, 2024. Union officials concluded the deal was enough to call off the strike.

The deal also guarantees the lowest paid faculty, which includes lecturers, an additional $3,000 raise applied retroactively to July 1, 2023 and a second one this July.

Once Storino opened the door to her psychology lecture, she was greeted by a classroom full of students, who turned their bodies toward her attentively.

“Welcome to psych 411,” she said “I see some familiar faces, which makes me really happy.”

Her students had received an email around 9 p.m. that class was back on, so she opened up the class to questions regarding the strike.

After a long pause, one student in the front raised her hand. “Is it settled?” she asked.

“Yes, we settled,” Storino said. “It’s a win-win. The lowest paid got a bump, which is a big deal … My biggest thing was I didn't want to start late with all of you, so I'm very excited. It’s like perfect timing for me, because we're right on schedule.

Some students who shuffled across the sunny campus Tuesday morning, were not as thrilled that classes were back on with such short notice.

Laura Smith, 21, a junior studying biology who is also on the women’s basketball team, said she was just heading out of an 8 a.m. biology lecture before going to practice and labs later that afternoon.

“It was good,” Smith said. “It was pretty empty because a lot of students didn’t get the email in time, but we went over the syllabus and introductions.”

Smith, like most students, was a little put off by the late notice of classes but was happy faculty were able to reach an agreement.

“I was kind of upset because I wasn't ready for classes,” she said. “Regarding the strike itself, I mean, I'm glad that things got resolved at least and our money's being put to good use. And yeah, we're actually getting our education.”

Smith worried that the salary increases might push CSU management, which increased student tuition 6% annually last September, to raise tuition even more down the road.

“Just considering the climate we're in, inflation is a big deal, and not many people can afford college anyway,” she said. “So increasing tuition is not great, especially since college is here to support the students.”

According to a message to faculty, the contract’s highlights also include an increase in paid parental leave from six weeks to 10 weeks — less than the full semester the union sought.

Other aspects of the tentative deal include providing a union representative when faculty deal with police, “improving access” to spaces to pump breast milk and extending the current contract by one year to June 30, 2025.

A beaming professor of Chicano and Latino studies, Daniel Malpica, smiled and waived to students as he walked to his office to answer a “pile of emails” that had built up over the course of a day.

“We’re feeling really excited,” he said “Happy for the students, for the faculty and for education as a whole.”

“This was really important because faculty are hurting economically because of the cost of living around here,” he said. “Folks (who) have masters and Ph.D.’s should be paid for all that education they bring.“

He added that he was also grateful classes were back in session because “the Cal State system is really important because it brings opportunities for low-income and underrepresented people to make their dreams possible.”

“People that had never thought that they could go and acquire an education are able to do it, because they're able to come here and get great jobs and move out of poverty and just do really well for their families,” he said. “This is what a public institution should be.“

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8531 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter,) @alana_minkler.