Nearly 95% of the faculty union voted in favor of a strike if the union and the university are unable to come to an agreement over faculty pay.

The San Jose Mercury News reports:

California State University faculty threaten to strike

SAN JOSE — The union representing California State University’s 25,000 faculty members has voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike — which, if called, would apparently be the first in the state’s history — union leaders announced Wednesday.

Nearly 95 percent of the faculty voted to allow union leaders to call a systemwide strike early next year should the union and CSU system be unable to resolve their dispute, which revolves around faculty pay. The California Faculty Association, which rejected a 2 percent raise offered earlier this year, is demanding 5 percent increases for all of its members and an additional 1.2 percent for some faculty.

“It’s one thing to ask us to tighten our belts during hard times because we want to serve our students — and we’ve done that,” union President Jennifer Eagan said during Wednesday’s news conference at San Jose State. “But the recession is over, the governor and the Legislature have reinvested in the CSU, and now is the time for us to be able to catch up.”