HAYWARD, Calif. — Eleven hundred electricians, plumbers, mechanics, painters and other workers in the trades at California State University campuses carried out a four-day strike Feb. 17-20 demanding the university live up to what was agreed to in the union contract ratified in 2024.
“It’s about getting the pay raises we’re owed,” Von Savo told the Militant as he and other members of Teamsters Local 2010 were picketing at the entrance to the Cal State, East Bay campus here Feb. 20.
The raises the workers are demanding were won as a result of a long fight. Now crying poverty, university administrators refuse to pay. “They’re spending it on AI and everything else but us,” said shop steward Valentin Avila Jr. “No way can AI paint walls, do the plumbing and other needed things.”
The Teamsters are coordinating closely with other unions facing similar moves to deny their members raises won on the 22 California State University campuses. “Going into the strike we called together all the campus unions and all agreed to support us,” Avila said. “Teachers and others came out and picketed on their breaks. Some cancelled classes. The students have been helping us big time.”
Flyers distributed by the pickets contrasted the treatment of the workers with the bloated salaries going to school administrators, including a total compensation package of approximately $1 million for Chancellor Mildred Garcia.
The four-day strike was authorized by a 95% vote by Teamsters members after negotiations stalled. As long as the university tops refuse to budge, the workers say they will keep fighting. Steven Phillips, a Teamster at Cal State, Chico who is on the statewide bargaining committee, told KRCR News that if the university continues to refuse to pay, they’ll look at other options, including possibly another strike.