Union members at Cal Poly Humboldt are planning to strike in two weeks over a system-wide salary dispute.

Members of the Teamsters Local 2010, a union that represents some 1,100 skilled-labor employees for California State University (and about 26,000 other workers in California education), were promised three annual 5% salary raises and salary step increases in 2024 by California State University. CSU didn’t increase their salaries in July 2025, citing a clause that allows them to ignore that if California’s legislature didn’t sufficiently fund CSU. 

CSU wound up about $144 million short of full funding, but the state offered CSU a short-term, interest-free $144 million loan to help bridge the gap. CSU says accepting the loan doesn’t meet their definition of being fully funded, and offered a one-time bonus instead, equivalent to 3% of each employee’s salary.

The Teamsters dispute CSU’s claim to be underfunded.

“CSU, in an unprecedented display of greed, arrogance and hypocrisy, has used the state budget and cynical legal maneuvering to re-open our contract and renege on contractually promised raises and step increases,” reads their strike FAQ. “The University has unlawfully and immorally refused to pay our contractual raises and step increases and has committed numerous unfair labor practices in the process…The University can afford to pay the contractual raises and has never asserted otherwise. The University received full funding in the state budget thanks in large part to the lobbying efforts of Teamster members.”

They’re planning to strike Feb. 17-20 on all 22 CSU campuses. The chapter at Cal Poly Humboldt has 26 dues-paying members and represents another 10 that haven’t signed up yet.

“We are bargaining in good faith with Teamsters Local 2010 and remain committed to continuing negotiations in an effort to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” reads a statement from the CSU shared by Cal Poly Humboldt’s Marketing and Communications department. “While we hope a strike can be avoided, we respect employees’ rights under the law.”

One local union member, Cal Poly Humboldt locksmith and union steward Phillip Bradley, addressed the Arcata City Council during a public comment period on Wednesday to warn residents and visitors about the strike, and apologize for any inconveniences it causes.

“I’d like to make clear this is not an action we want to take,” Bradley said. “Our strike is not targeted at anyone on our campus or in our community. Our strike is instead targeted at the chancellor’s office and the CSU Board of Trustees, who believe that the only response to a budget crisis is to freeze salaries, induce layoffs, and give raises to the highest paid executives in the CSU. We’re a group of people that like to fix things and help people. Inconveniencing others is not what we’re about. But this is our only option at this point.”

He told the Outpost today he expects some “pain points,” and shared some examples of problems that won’t be fixed over the course of the strike:

“We cover heating and cooling issues and the buildings,” he said. “Every time a toilet needs unclogging, that’s on us, or if a sink overflows…We have a building services engineer who spends most of his time working on all the industrial commercial equipment, keeping it running. We’ve got electricians that work with all of the alarms and securities. We probably get two or three calls from our University Police Department every day, just within the housing side of campus, to go check on this alarm or that alarm. Most of the time, it’s just the residents cooking food or taking showers that are too steamy. But we still need someone to go check and verify that everything’s OK. We’ve been understaffed for a while, and sometimes feels like all we’re doing is holding this place together.” 

A spokesperson for Cal Poly Humboldt told the Outpost that the university valued its skilled employees.

“It’s important to note that bargaining negotiations happen at a system level, not with the individual campuses,” reads a statement from Cal Poly Humboldt. “Skilled trades employees are important members of the campus community. We all 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. The University does not anticipate disruptions to student services. We will remain open, and classes will continue as scheduled during any strike activity.” 

Before CSU guaranteed step increases in 2024, ensuring some long-time employees would earn a salary commensurate with their skill level, Bradley said some of their skilled laborers were making less than the new hires. He said that some workers were counting on this year’s step increase to earn what they feel they should be making. Many of their health insurance premiums skyrocketed, leaving them in the red. Bradley emphasized that it wasn’t their intention to punish the students or other staff. He said the strike was the only tool they had left. 

“We love seeing all the students, and seeing them grow and learn and go out and do great things,” Bradley said. “And we want to get back to that. That’s what we’re here for.”