SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Monday, California State University and University of California workers joined labor leaders from Teamsters Local 2010, CSU Employees Union, SEIU State Council, California state legislators and education leaders to rally at the steps of the state capitol and urge Governor Gavin Newsom to address the wage crisis.
CSU workers are made up of electricians, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, facilities workers, custodians, groundskeepers, administrative support, and other essential workers.
Monday's rally was to raise awareness of Senate Bill 410, which calls on Governor Newsom to address and correct the salary structure of non-faculty staff members at CSUs and UCs.
Many wore shirts, held signs that said "We Set the Bar High, Don't Keep the Wage Low" or "Fund Our Future", and chanted "What do we want? Fair Pay! When do we want it? Now!" in efforts to get Governor Newsom to sign the bill.
"This is a system that cares about people," said Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010. "I'm proud to be an alum of it and I'm proud to support the CSU, but I'm not proud of how they've treated our classified workers in the CSU system here."
If passed, the CSU school system would have to implement salary reforms and bring back salary step increases to 20,000 of the CSU non-faculty support staff. The goal is to end wage stagnation and inequitable pay that impacts women and workers of color.
"We are underpaid for what we do," said Jessica Westbay, vice president for representation for the CSU Employee Union. "When we don't have proper staffing levels because of our low pay, we are having challenges retaining and recruiting professional staff because of the wage disparity."
CSU and UC workers, labor unions, and California elected officials then marched to the other side of the capitol where Governor Newsom's office is to make a statement and demand fair pay for CSU workers.
"Enough is enough," said Lorena Gonzalez, executive secretary-treasurer for the California Labor Federation. "We're not going to be played around with anymore, it's time for the governor to sign this bill!"
CSU spokesperson Toni Molle provided the following response regarding the issue to ABC10.
The CSU deeply values its employees and is committed to ensuring competitive wages, benefits and rewarding careers that fulfill CSU’s mission of providing students access to a high-quality, affordable education.
CSU has a strong interest in paying all employees fairly, equitable and at market rates and a recent independent study’s recommendations align with CSU’s core values but SB 410 imposes a significant cost to the university without a funding source, requiring a redirection of a significant portion of CSU’s existing budget at an estimated to cost the university $287 million in year one and $1.3 billion in ongoing funding over the next ten years.
CSU worked with our staff unions and Mercer, an independent consultancy to conduct an in-depth market benchmark study as well as analyze CSU’s job classifications, salary structures, pay practices and to provide recommendations and cost estimates.
Mercer found that the CSU has a strong interest in offering salaries which are competitive and in line with the market but that it has been unable to do so consistently over time due to budgetary constraints.
The CSU is using the findings and recommendations of the staff salary study to advocate for additional and sustainable state funding to modernize CSU’s salary structures and pay practices to offer more competitive compensation for CSU staff employees but requiring the CSU to use existing funds will force budgetary decisions that will have considerable negative impacts on students and university priorities instead.
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