Teamsters strike at Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. — Teamsters Local 2010 took to several corners around Fresno State on Feb. 17 for a week’s worth of protests.
The union represents skilled workers like electricians, painters and plumbers. Now, they’re saying the CSU has failed to meet their contractually agreed upon wages.
“We reached an agreement with the CSU, a collective bargaining agreement that had three years of raises,” said Teamster research analyst, Alex Vermie. “This most recent year that would’ve been in July, the CSU backed out of paying those raises. This was a contract, it was a promise, it was an agreement and they backed out.”
The CSU employs 1,100 skilled workers and some of them pointed to the recent CSU president pay bump as the source of their frustration. At Fresno State, this bump would bring University President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval’s total compensation to more than $500,000 a year.
“They just threw us to the curb,” said Fresno State equipment mechanic, Brent Gerken. “That was basically my defining moment of this isn’t right.”
The union said if their demands aren’t met, they will look into taking legal action.