AS MEMBERS OF CREW, WE COMMIT TO THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES OF UNITY

HIGH PARTICIPATION. Unions are strongest when everyone participates. As workers we are experts on our own conditions. We contribute to creating a more democratic, transparent and participatory union because we know that our power is greatest when it rises from the bottom up.

RAISING EXPECTATIONS. We do not accept the steady, decades-long decline in the standard of living of CFA members. We deserve more. We will pursue a stronger, more effective approach to negotiations with management, including open bargaining, direct election of bargaining team members, and rank and file participation at every step of the bargaining process.

A STRIKE FUND. The greatest leverage a union has is its collective ability to withhold labor. A powerful strike threat is one in which the membership can mount an open-ended strike. Amassing a strike fund to financially support striking workers is therefore paramount to increasing our union’s power. 

ANTI-RACIST SOLIDARITY. We commit to intersectional anti-racist social justice principles, solidarity and action. 

LOOKING BEYOND OUR MEMBERSHIP. By working in coalition with other unions and allies on and off campus, we can win victories for all Californians, not just for ourselves. We aim to bargain for things that benefit California’s working class as a whole. 

RESISTING NEOLIBERALISM. While universities have always required competent operational staff who deserve living wages and respect, the growing dominance of an elite class of professional administrators imposing neoliberal misrule impoverishes teaching and learning and usurps shared governance. We commit to reclaiming campus democracy and reversing administrative bloat and the runaway salaries of CSU management. We insist on a robust, debt-free, and accessible CSU, up to and including a return to tuition-free education.  

DISMANTLING THE TWO-TIER SYSTEM. The two-tier system of labor harms us all. We commit to using the bargaining process to end the two-tier faculty labor system piece-by-piece. Our goal is to ultimately abolish it so that all CSU faculty are contractually assured of the security, equity, inclusion, and freedom of speech that tenure is meant to provide. 

RELYING ON COLLECTIVE POWER, NOT LEGISLATIVE FAVORS. No one is coming to save us. Labor power is stronger and more effective than legislative power. While engaging with elected officials can be part of a successful strategy, it is not our primary focus. Our focus is on organizing to exercise our own collectiver power, which is based on our ability to withhold labor.

ORGANIZING. While we may sometimes feel a need to vent, we will keep our focus on changing the system and structure of CFA, not individual people. While we sometimes rally behind specific workers who embody a collective problem, our purpose is not to resolve individual grievances. We are here to organize for a more democratic and collectively powerful CFA that is resistant to missteps by individuals.

CONTRIBUTE TO CREW. Members are expected to remain in good standing and act in good faith as CFA members, come to CREW meetings, organize workers on their campus, contribute to CREW projects, and make a small financial contribution to CREW according to their ability.