For the past 16 years, Robert Francis has stepped onto Chico State’s campus, clocked in and went to work. On Tuesday, he arrived on campus with a sign, side-by-side with about 60 other skilled-trade workers, to strike against the California State University system for not providing them their contractual step raises.
The group of workers striking alongside Francis began at the construction site for the new Human ID Lab early in the morning. As more people arrived on campus, they moved to the parking garage, where they distributed flyers to cars passing by and honking.
At the same time, two other groups of striking workers were outside the Student Services Center and behind Éstom Jámani Dining Center.
Francis is a plumbing supervisor on campus. “Striking is no fun, I definitely don’t want to be here,” he said. But, he said that it’s what they need to do to get their step raises.
In 2024, the Teamsters 2010 union and the CSU negotiated 3% raises that would’ve taken effect last July. When the time came, the raises didn’t arrive. The Chancellor’s Office attributes this to a clause in the contract allowing for the steps to be walked back if the state doesn’t fully fund the CSU. That funding came as a loan from the state, but the CSU has argued that it isn’t ongoing funding.
But Steve Phillips, a locksmith at California State University, Fullerton, said that there is ongoing funding.
“They’re (CSU) saying that they didn’t get the amount as ongoing funds, it was only a one-time fund,” Phillips said. “Newsom just proposed next year’s budget, which has a loan to cover that, so it is ongoing.”
Before working at CSU Fullerton, Phillips was a locksmith and the union steward on Chico’s campus. He flew in last night to join his former coworkers in the strike. But his job goes beyond maintaining the locks on campus, he is also part of the bargaining unit for the union.
The parties brought in an outside mediator and fact-finder to help negotiations — both attempts failed. Phillips said that the fact finder came back from speaking to the Chancellor’s team and said, “I don’t see a way forward because they are not budging on any progressive payments.”
However, the Chancellor’s Office sees it differently. The Chancellor offered bonuses instead of step raises, which wasn’t enough for the Teamsters, according to Phillips. In a system-wide email by the Chancellor’s Office on Tuesday, it read, “The CSU has been bargaining in good faith, and we urge the Teamsters to honor their commitment and return to the table.”
For the next three days, or until the CSU and the union reaches an agreement, workers will be on strike. Sometimes, they will be joined by campus community members, like History Lecturer Timothy Sistrunk.
Sistrunk, a member of the California Faculty Association, took the day off to join the picket line. “We threaten to go on strike every three years when our contract comes back up, it’s ridiculous,” Sistrunk said.
He called on the CSU to provide the raises and said that CSU workers were the only state employees who didn’t receive step raises. “Treat us like the rest of state workers,” he said.
This isn’t the first time that both parties have failed to reach an agreement over step raises. In 2023, the Teamsters and the California State University Employee Union went on a “one-day strike” over the very same step raises. For Francis, the step raises being denied was predictable.
“They’re (CSU) going to say they don’t have enough money and then we’re going to get denied our raises, and lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened,” he said.
While the union is currently fighting for their step raises from July, its contract from 2023 is about to expire. Francis said he wants to see future contracts have less opportunity for the CSU to back out.
The Teamsters 2010 union will be on strike through the CSU system from Tuesday through Friday. During this time, the campus community may experience delays in maintenance requests, including plumbing and heating. Director of Public Relations Andrew Staples said there’s already been some minor issues with locks, but was quickly addressed.
Dash Ferrero, Sean Shanks and Chris Hutton contributed to this reporting.
Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected].
