As CSU students return to classes for the spring term, the threat of a systemwide faculty strike looms.

“A storm is coming,” said California Faculty Association President Jennifer Eagan at a news conference Tuesday. “The faculty are fed up with the low pay.”

The faculty union rejected a 2 percent raise offered by the California State University administration last year and is demanding 5 percent increases for all of its members and an additional 1.2 percent for some faculty. In October, CSU faculty voted overwhelmingly to allow union leaders to call a systemwide strike should the union and CSU system fail to resolve their dispute.

But while the two sides have yet to reach a deal, a strike in the 470,000-student system — if called — would likely still be weeks away.

The California Faculty Association must first wait for a report from a neutral arbitrator, which could take up to six weeks, said Eagan, also a professor at CSU East Bay with joint appointments in philosophy, public affairs and administration.

On Tuesday, the faculty association announced it had gained the support of more than 15 labor groups from around the state, including the Alameda, South Bay and San Francisco labor councils, which will ask union members not to cross picket lines if the faculty go on strike.

Faculty at several campuses, including CSU East Bay in Hayward, held a one-day strike in 2011, but this would be the first systemwide strike in recent memory.

A CSU spokeswoman said Tuesday that the administration was committed to the bargaining process and that it takes “a balanced approach to compensation.”

“A strike,” said public affairs director Toni Molle, “is not in the best interest of our students.”

Follow Katy Murphy at Twitter.com/katymurphy.