by Barley Lewis-McCabe and Nico Patakidis

Electricians, plumbers, repair people and mechanics all under the umbrella of the Teamsters union traded their tools for signs and rain ponchos to try and fix something much larger than a clogged toilet. 

Teamsters Local 2010, the union that represents over 27,000 blue-collar workers across the California State University (CSU) system, began a 4-day unfair labor practices strike on Feb. 17 to protest the CSU’s refusal to pay contractually agreed-upon raises. On Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus, Teamsters were stationed at Granite Ave. and LK Wood Blvd., and in front of the College Creek Marketplace. 

Teamsters aims to put pressure on the CSU administration to implement a salary steps program, as was outlined in the 2024-25 contract. The contract states that employees will be placed on the next highest salary step to their current pay and then advance two steps — a salary step being an incremental pay rate typically increasing based on years of service. Also outlined in the contract is a Salary Structure Adjustment (SSA), a one-percent increase applied to all steps within a classification.

“The state legislature wrote the budget and they did it in kind of a weird way, so they believed the budget fully funded the CSU,” said Philip Bradley, Teamsters Unit-6 steward and university locksmith. “A portion of that money was deferred until [this July]… so that’s saying, we’re considering you fully funded, but you’re not actually going to get the money till next year. They have billions in reserve, and that’s billions with a B… according to our researchers, that money is all unrestricted, so it’s a matter of their priorities.” 

The salary steps program and SSA are contingent on California’s final Budget Act of 2025 containing a new, unallocated, ongoing appropriation to the CSU, not less than $480 million above the final Budget Act of 2023. The CSU claims that this contingency was not met, as the state did not provide the CSU with any new, unallocated, ongoing General Fund appropriations. Additionally, the state deferred $144 million from the 2025-26 budget to 2026-27. While the state offered a zero-interest loan to offset this reduction, the loan must still be repaid in full, and the CSU claims this does not meet the standards required to enact compensation increases. 

“The CSU is fully honoring all labor agreements that were negotiated and ratified through a collaborative collective bargaining process,” the CSU said in a statement on Budget and Labor Agreements. “CSU is acting in full accordance with the terms of the contracts and remains committed to transparency and honoring the agreements made with its labor partners.” 

Teamsters feel that the CSU is capable of paying the proposed raises due to the governor’s final budget fully funding the CSU, in part with a $144 million deferred payment. Should the previously mentioned contingencies not be met, the CSU would have no choice but to re-open negotiations with the union, which took place in October. The reopened negotiations were mired with difficulties, and a lack of productivity. In December the Teamsters filed an Unfair Labor Practices claim, and contacted the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB).

The Teamsters attorneys argue that the CSU violated the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA). The alleged violations include bargaining in bad faith, refusal to bargain and provide a counterproposal, refusal to provide responses to the union’s information requests. Additionally, attorneys found that the CSU is attempting to modify previously settled issues by offering the Teamsters a one-time payment of 3% of their current salaries rather than abiding by the contractual wage raises already agreed upon, claiming that bargaining must be reopened. Attorneys also determined that the CSU’s refusal to pay the raises was a violation of the contract writing. As of now, there has not yet been a hearing to address the Teamsters charges against the CSU.

Bradley emphasized that the strike is not targeted at Cal Poly Humboldt or its students. Rather, he believes that it’s the only way for the CSU to engage with the Teamsters — because the strike means that the Teamsters will be withholding labor, any maintenance requests that are made, such as broken windows, leaking pipes and fire alarms will be responded to much slower as only the managers will be on duty. However, Bradley said that students should still put in work orders if needed. Additionally, the picket lines that the teamsters form may slow down traffic. Aside from the decreased level of service and additional traffic, Bradley does not anticipate any other setbacks from the strike. Cal Poly Humboldt also does not see any further disruptions. 

“The University does not anticipate disruptions to student services. We will remain open, and classes will continue as scheduled during any strike activity,” Melissa Hutsell from Marketing and Communication said. “We ask members of our campus community to remain patient and respectful during this time.” 

The current strike will last until Friday, Feb. 20, unless the Teamsters are able to reach a deal with CSU administrators. It will not last past Friday, and there are not any other planned strikes. However, Bradley did not rule out the possibility of calling another strike if an agreement cannot be reached, or even possibly a joint strike with other CSU unions sometime in late April-May. 

Jake Wegant, facilities management mechanic and Teamsters Unit-6 steward, took shelter from the pouring rain under the awning of the marketplace.

“We don’t want to be out here, we want to get back into it and do our jobs… we’re a big cog in this CSU wheel, making sure these buildings are safe and comfortable for students and staff,” Wegant said. “We love this community. None of us want to be out here but we have to fight for what’s right. We’re all energized, we’re pumped and hopefully this works. Hopefully the CSU chancellor gets off her high horse and changes her mind about things.”

Barley is the opinion editor and an untraditional reporter who focuses on social change and stories with a real human impact. If you’d like to reach him for whatever reason email bl258@humboldt.edu.

Nico is the photo editor with an interest in covering local government and political affairs. In his free time he enjoys hanging out and having fun with his friends. Reach him at np211@humboldt.edu.