Group opposes protection from caste discrimination in California Varsity’s faculty union
The Hindu
CBA only be approved after caste, as a category, is removed, demands the group
A group of faculty in the California State University (CSU) system has written to the Board of Trustees asking that caste not be added as a ‘protected category’ to the system’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), on the grounds that it would apply to Indian origin faculty alone and single them out for targeted scrutiny.
A protected category in the U.S., refers to a category that has specific protections against discrimination.The proposed changes to the agreement with the union follow from a change across the system’s 23 campuses announced on January 20, in which caste was specifically made part of the institutions’ anti-discrimination policy.
The faculty letter, a copy of which was released by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), was, according to the writers, written by over 80 CSU faculty (the list of names was withheld, so the number has not been verified by The Hindu). The letter requests that the CBA only be approved after caste, as a category, is taken out. Meetings to ratify the agreement between the CSU and the union (the California Faculty Association or CFA) , are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.