Skilled trades workers across the California State University (CSU) system are going on strike this week, saying the university failed to deliver raises promised under a recently negotiated contract. The four-day strike will run from Feb. 17 to 20 at campuses across the system.
Members of Teamsters Local 2010 picketed at nearly all 22 campuses in the California State University system, including California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB).
The union represents thousands of CSU employees, including plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, locksmiths, carpenters, and mechanics responsible for maintaining campus infrastructure.
Dwayne Harwell, a union steward at CSUB, said workers were demanding step increases secured in a contract approved in 2023. The agreement guaranteed annual raises, including one scheduled for July 2025, but Harwell said employees never received it.
Harwell said skilled trades workers are important to keeping the campus running every day.
“When the heating doesn’t work and the plumbing backs up and the lights go out, we’re the ones they call,” he said. “All we’re wanting is a fair wage.”
CSUB skilled trades workers picket on Feb. 18 over promised raises.
Jason Rabinowitz, the union’s secretary-treasurer, said the union worked for years lobbying, protesting, and striking to win the 2023 contract that created salary steps. He said the raises tied to those steps average about 3% per year.
“For nearly 30 years, CSU management denied step increases, making it the only California state employer without them,” Rabinowitz said. “That meant employees with 20 or 30 years of service were still stuck at the bottom of their pay range.”
Drew Rangel, a Teamsters Local 2010 representative who joined the strike at CSUB, said CSU leaders blamed budget problems for withholding the July raise. The union disagrees.
“The university is refusing to pay what was owed last July,” Rangel said. “We’ve supported efforts to secure additional state funding, including zero-interest loans, to ensure CSU could meet its contractual obligations.”
In a statement by the California Faculty Association (CFA), they criticized CSU administration for failing to uphold the agreed-upon salary structure.
“Solidarity across all workers is an important value of ours at CFA,” said CFA President Margarita Berta-Ávila. “Although Chancellor Mildred García has failed to honor the salary steps Teamsters members fought for and won, we know our members will show respect by supporting their struggle.”
CSU officials disputed those claims in a statement. CSU said parts of the contract tied certain raises to new state funding, which they said was not received.
In the statement, CSU said:
“The CSU values its employees and remains committed to fair, competitive pay and benefits for our skilled trades workforce through the collective bargaining process. It is unfortunate that the Teamsters are advancing false claims to justify a strike that harms both their members and the university community. Agreements matter. The Teamsters agreed to reopen bargaining if a certain level of new, ongoing funds were not received in 2025. That is the current situation. The CSU has been bargaining in good faith and urges the Teamsters to return to the table. We hope negotiations can continue so we can reach an agreement as soon as possible.”
