Faculty, staff, and union leaders criticized pay practices and hiring patterns across the California State University (CSU) system during public comment at a meeting of the California State University Board of Trustees on March 10, which raised concerns about temporary hiring, delayed raises, and executive pay.
Mario Ba, who said he represents Unit 4 employees, pointed to hiring data that included California State University, Bakersfield, telling trustees that several campuses relied entirely on temporary staff for certain professional roles.
Unit 4 employees include advisers, financial aid staff, and counselors who support students across CSU campuses.
Ba said five CSU campuses, Long Beach, San Marcos, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, and Sonoma, hired 100% of their new Unit 4 employees as temporary workers during the current fiscal year.
The hiring pattern comes as the California State University faces financial pressure. The state budget for 2025-26 reduced the CSU’s base funding by about $144 million, and the system did not receive new ongoing funding that would have triggered certain employee pay increases.
CSU officials have said the funding shortfall and rising operating costs have forced campuses to make trade-offs, including delayed hiring and reductions in some positions.
“Unit 4 professionals do not perform temporary work,” Ba said. “We are the advisers, financial aid staff, and counselors who guide students through important moments in their education.”
Ba said filling those jobs with temporary appointments creates instability for student services.
The comments come as labor tensions continue across the CSU system. Skilled trades workers at California State University, Bakersfield, joined a statewide strike earlier this year organized by Teamsters Local 2010 over delayed raises.
During the trustees’ meeting, union leaders again asked CSU leadership to return to negotiations.
Ernesto Torres, vice president of Teamsters Local 2010, questioned why executive raises were approved while workers are still waiting for contract increases.
“Why were executive raises prioritized before raises for faculty and staff?” Torres asked.
Union leaders said workers are prepared to continue pushing for the pay increases they say were promised.
“CSU has still not implemented our promised raises,” said Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010. “We demand that CSU honor its commitment to workers.”
Faculty representatives also criticized what they explained as growing pay gaps between administrators and employees.
“The one-time 3% bonus does nothing for our base pay or pension,” said Vang Vang, treasurer of the California Faculty Association. “Faculty and staff are struggling to put food on the table.”
Several speakers repeated a message directed at CSU leadership.
“It’s time to fund the classroom and not the boardroom,” Vang said.
Trustees did not directly respond to the individual comments during the meeting. However, the board chair acknowledged the recent strike and said the university system hopes negotiations will resume.
“Our represented employees have the right to strike, and we respect people’s choice in exercising that right,” the chair said. “I’m hopeful that good-faith negotiations will resume and soon lead to an agreement.”
