Our Teamsters Unit 6 Bargaining Team met with CSU for our first successor contract bargaining meeting last week, March 23-24. While CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia has made recent promises to state legislators, CSU Trustees, and the public that the University is committed to meeting their promises and providing fair pay to Unit 6 workers, the CSU Management Bargaining Team quickly made it clear that these were more empty words from the Chancellor.
Our Bargaining Team’s first proposal was that the CSU immediately provide our July 2025 contractual raises–with penalties and interest for their failure to meet their obligations. The State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has issued a complaint against the CSU for their bad faith bargaining and failure to pay, finding that our Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the CSU has merit and will proceed toward a hearing.
Despite this, CSU again refused their obligation to pay our contractual raises. They also stated that they will refuse to bargain in good faith for raises for July 2026 and future years, claiming that CSU is unable to bargain wages for any year until the budget is finalized. Countless public and private employers commit to multiple years of base-building raises in contract negotiations—including the CSU itself in our previous contracts. Not anymore, it seems. CSU is now in open violation of its legal obligation to bargain in good faith with the Unions representing its employees, and is distinguishing itself as the worst employer in the California public sector.
“Our members are highly trained professionals, not children to be dismissed or laughed at across the bargaining table. What we are seeing from the CSU is not good faith bargaining, it’s avoidance, delay, and a lack of respect for the very people who keep this institution functioning. We are done repeating ourselves. We are demanding accountability. We are demanding respect. And we are demanding that CSU honor its word.”
Ernesto Torres
Facilities Project Supervisor, CSUSB
Vice President, Teamsters Local 2010
Instead of good faith proposals to address the issues our members face, CSU proposed massive takeaways and insulted our Bargaining Team. Despite pretending that their operations were unaffected by our historic week-long strike last month, CSU’s team made a ludicrous proposal: that we should agree to gut our right to strike over future ULPs!
Our team replied that if CSU doesn’t want more strikes, CSU should pay our members the money we’re owed. The CSU team responded by shouting at our team, hurling personal insults, and calling our lead negotiator a liar even as they refused to answer our questions. Presented with such overwhelming contempt for our team and our members, our Bargaining Team walked out of the meeting. An insult to any one of us is an insult to all of us.
On top of their unbelievable strike proposal, CSU also proposed removing almost all of our protections against contracting out, plus adding language that would allow them to keep a broad category of disciplinary and counseling notes in personnel files indefinitely even if the issue never reoccurs. Our team stood strong against these takeaways and proposed critical improvements to articles on Appointment, Health & Safety and Assignment/Reassignment.
“Teamsters Local 2010 and our courageous Unit 6 members are making history by standing up to CSU and its brazen violations of law and mistreatment of workers. We will continue to fight CSU on every front until we win implementation of our steps and the fair treatment we deserve!”
Jason Rabinowitz
Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 2010
Our Bargaining Team and our members will not stand for CSU’s continued disrespect for us and our work. Our statewide strike proved to CSU that with collective action, we can shut the CSU down. We will continue to take action to ensure that CSU won’t get away with its empty promises and takeaways.
