California College of the Arts

UPDATE! After a powerful 4-day unfair labor practice strike in March 2022, CCA adjunct faculty and staff reached a tentative agreement with administration, and voted overwhelmingly to ratify the new contracts in early April. View the highlights here or below.

Adjunct faculty at CCA formed their union with SEIU 1021 in 2014, seeking what just about everyone wants out of a job—especially one that is meant to be a career: basic job security, living wages, and a voice in their workplace, recognizing that, as those teaching the overwhelming majority of classes and closest to the students, they were uniquely positioned to provide meaningful input and feedback on the college’s programming, operations, and procedures.

CCA staff voted by an overwhelming majority in a high-turnout election to form their union with SEIU 1021 in 2019. CCA cannot run without its staff. They include librarians, 3D printer technicians, studio managers, program managers, and many others who manage enrollment, including assisting and enrolling transfer students; international student outreach; recruitment and retention; billing; and so much more. Yet CCA administration continues to treat their staff as if they are disposable, refusing more than minimal cost-of-living adjustments and usually limiting any career advancement within the college.

Despite CCA administration’s shabby treatment of their staff, they take care of their own, even raising thousands of dollars through a GoFundMe to provide cash assistance to staff who were furloughed for 10 months during the pandemic, and raising over $20,000 for strike hardship assistance during their four-day ULP strike in February.

CCA administration wouldn’t know anything about what that’s like. While they cry poor, they continue to pay themselves top dollar ($580,000 to President Stephen Beal—more than any administrator of a college with a similar budget in the region—and $280,000 to Provost Tammy Rae Carland) and their union-busting attorney ($275,000 to Mike Vartain in 2020).

Further, CCA has tied up all its assets in a costly and risky expansion plan to sell the Oakland campus and consolidate operations in San Francisco. CCA has used all its property as collateral in its consolidation project that puts the needs of real estate developers and banks ahead of students and workers. 

CCA adjuncts and staff are used to fighting hard—and winning. We deserve better—and so do our students.