Spencer Owen, PPM Plumber at CSU Northridge and Skilled Trades Recording Secretary for Teamsters Local 2010, sent a letter to Chancellor Castro ahead of the Unit 6 Bargaining Team’s meeting with CSU management this week.
After he was prevented from speaking at the Chancellor’s recent CSU Northridge forum, Spencer emailed Chancellor Castro and asked that he respond to the urgent needs of CSU essential workers.
Read Spencer’s letter to the Chancellor below and reach out to your Union Rep for ways you can get involved to support our Bargaining Team!
January 14th, 2022
Greetings Chancellor Joseph Castro,
My name is Spencer Owen and I work at California State Northridge, as a PPM Plumber. I am also the Skilled Trades Recording Secretary for the Teamsters Local 2010. I attended your open forum the day you visited CSUN last year. During the forum I was told that I was to speak on behalf of our Teamsters Local 2010 members. I was never given the chance to speak, but I would still like my questions to be answered. I understand that your father was a Teamster, so I would expect you to act in honor of your father to do the right thing for us.
We are asking you to answer these questions and give your answers at the beginning of the Bargaining session this coming Tuesday, January 18th via Zoom.
Raises: In 2020, Unit 6 along with other CSU staff received no general salary increases despite an incredibly challenging year of working through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unit 6 workers were designated as essential and had to continue reporting to work in-person despite the risk the virus posed to ourselves and our families. What is your and the CSU’s commitment to ensuring fair pay for our essential workers in 2020 and going forward?
Staffing: With layoffs, retirements, and early exit programs, staffing numbers at the CSU have fallen even as campuses have reopened and workloads have increased. Unit 6 Skilled Trades workers are increasingly being asked to do more work for the same pay we had 2 years ago. At the same time, CSU starting pay is often too low to recruit quality candidates, especially with the current tight labor market, which leads campuses to bring in new hires earning more than existing employees. What are the CSU’s plans to ensure adequate staffing to provide services and support for faculty and students while addressing inversion and equity issues?
Thank you for your time,
Spencer Owen
Teamsters Local 2010
Skilled Trades Recording Secretary
