Skilled trades workers from Teamsters Local 2010 are on strike at Cal Poly and CSUs across the state. On Tuesday, they picketed at the entrances to the Cal Poly campus.
Evan Powels, a building service engineer at Cal Poly, has worked on campus for nine years. He describes the economic challenges he continues to see as a university skilled trades worker.
“We are not keeping up with the cost of living in this in this area. A lot of them are workers. A lot of people do not and cannot afford a house,” Powels said. “Here in San Luis, we have to drive sometimes an hour, hour and a half away just to be able to have a place to live that we can afford.”
Teamsters union workers initiated wage discussions in June, proposing a 7% increase this year, followed by 5% increases in the next two years, along with step increases for experienced workers.
“We’re taking these steps in solidarity with all the other campuses all over the CSU,” Powels said.
Amy Bentley-Smith, CSU Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs, says the CSU’s latest offer is a 15% compensation pool over three years, distributed diversely, and introducing a new step structure.
But CSU workers argue that their wages for trade jobs lag significantly behind those at the University of California by approximately 23.6%.
The labor union claims that the CSU possesses the funds for the proposed salary increases, given the recent boost in state funding over the past two years.
However, Bentley-Smith said, “We continue to face a $1.5 billion funding gap between the revenues that we receive and the costs to provide that education to our students.”
The next stage in the discussion involves fact-finding, expected to take weeks, with negotiations based on non-binding recommendations.
“I think that once we show them that we're serious and not roll over and actually show them that we're willing to fight with them on this and ask them to fairly come across the table and bargain with us, I believe that this is going to, we're going to get what we're asking for,” Powels said.
