UPDATE, 2:25 p.m.:

Aileen Yoo, director of news and information at Cal Poly Humboldt, forwarded the following statement, which was shared with the campus on Nov. 9:

Cal Poly Humboldt has been informed that Teamsters Local 2010, which represents approximately 1,000 employees systemwide in the CSU including plumbers, electricians, and other skilled trades workers, intends to conduct a one-day strike on Tuesday, Nov. 14.

Contracts with the various unions are negotiated at the CSU system level in Long Beach. At this time, the California State University and the Teamsters have reached an impasse in their contract negotiations but are still engaged in the bargaining process under state law.

If the strike on Nov. 14 occurs, Cal Poly Humboldt and other CSU universities will remain open. Each has contingency plans in place to maintain full operations with as minimal disruption as possible for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Any changes to scheduled activities will be communicated.

Employees engaging in a strike are not entitled to be paid while they’re on strike. Employees who are scheduled to work on Nov. 14 but do not report to work are not permitted to use time off accruals to cover their absences while they are on strike. This applies to all absences unless they were pre-approved by the supervisor, or medical certification is provided documenting the employee was unable to work, or the employee already has a medical certification on file. If an employee’s absence on Nov. 14 is not approved or cleared by medical documentation, that time will be designated as unapproved leave without pay.

Retaliation by any member of the campus community for one’s personal position regarding the labor dispute is inappropriate and unlawful and should be reported to the campus Title IX coordinator. If you have any questions, please contact your supervisor or Human Resources.

During any strike or other activity related to contract negotiations, please remain respectful and patient. As a university community, we share a commitment to providing a positive educational experience for our students, and Cal Poly Humboldt values the important work our employees do every day to make this possible.

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Original post:

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Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters holding plastic-wrapped protest signs marched in the rain outside Cal Poly Humboldt this morning as part of the labor union’s one-day strike across 22 of the 23 campuses in the California State University system.

The strike comprises 1,100 CSU skilled trade maintenance and operations workers, including plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters and mechanics. The labor organization alleges that CSU has committed numerous unfair labor practices, including interfering with workers’ rights to engage in union activities and offering “insulting” wage proposals.

“CSU has denied workers regular step increases for 28 years, leaving many workers stuck near the bottom of their pay range after decades of service, and CSU pay lags behind comparable University of California Skilled Traded worker pay by 23.6% on average,” the Teamsters say in an informational flier being distributed at the protest.

The group warns that today’s strike could result in delayed deliveries and trash pickup, and it’s expected to halt any construction projects on campuses.

The Outpost reached out to Cal Poly Humboldt for comment and we’ll update this post if and when we hear back. The campus remains open during the strike.