Five unions gather at Cal State LA for the ‘Strike Ready Rally’

Despite the blistering heat, dozens of faculty, staff and others gathered at Cal State LA on Friday for the Strike Ready Rally. The protest comes as several unions are in the midst of bitter contract negotiations with the California State University System or heading towards potential strike actions later this year. 

It was a day full of noise makers, chants and rallying as people gathered to listen to several speakers, share a communal lunch, and a march that later winded throughout campus with short stops at the Student Services Building and at the University Club, the new on-campus sit-down restaurant. 

“We’re all fighting the same battle,” Kenneth Castillo said at the rally. Castillo is the Cal State LA chapter president of the Cal State Employees Union. “This is five unions, one fight. And this is why we’re here today.” 

The five unions include the California Faculty Association (CFA) which represent over 29,000 faculty across the school system, the CSUEU which represents 35,000 workers, the Teamsters Local 2010, unit 6 who represent 1,200, the United Autoworkers Union Chapter 4123 who represent 10,000 academic student workers and the Academic Professionals of California (APC) who represent 3,400 workers across the school system. 

Three of the five unions are in the process of negotiating new contracts with the CSU system. Currently the CFA is in the factfinding stage of bargaining, after calling for an impasse in July of this year. Factfinding is the last step before a strike can be authorized. The APC contract expires on June 30, 2027. 

In a Sept. 16 statement on the CSU website, the school system says it is working to “find agreements that maintain competitive salaries and benefits and ensure that the CSU can continue serving its students and communities for years to come.” 

“The CSU is working to reach agreements as quickly as possible so that salary increases can be delivered to employees without unnecessary delay,” the school system said. 

Collectively, the five unions represent over 90% of the CSU’s employees across dozens of sectors and bargaining units, the system said in its annual employee profile released in March of this year.

The protest at Cal State LA is just one of several that have taken place across the CSU system, including protests this past week at Northridge, Cal Poly Pomona and Long Beach State. 

In the crowd several wore “five unions, one fight” shirts to show their solidarity with the movement at Cal State LA and across the school system. But, one speaker said that the collective solidarity of Cal State LA should be a vision for the system as a whole. 

“We learned the lesson of solidarity from this campus,” Bethany Price, the treasurer of Cal State Long Beach’s CSUEU chapter said. “Cal State Long Beach is bigger, but you guys do unity better and we are trying to learn from you. So every time I come here, I am blown away by the unity.”  

For many the rally was a testament to union power and collective action. It wasn’t just a moment of anger at the state of the world, but a deep look at what the unions could do to center the CSU on its mission of serving the students. The unions say without their advocacy for contracts that are fair to them all without the focus fully on the students, their mission is no longer there. 

“I also want to say that this is a public university, this is a public institution and it’s for students,” Naim Reece, a graduate student in Pan-African studies at Cal State LA said during the rally. “It’s to educate students, right?” And so if students aren’t the focus, if the students aren’t the priority then what are we doing here?” 

Further support for the positions of the union came from several politicians running in local elections across the LA area who also spoke at the rally before the march. One of those included Estuardo Mazariegos, a candidate for LA City City Council District 9 and an alumni of Cal State LA and CSU Dominguez Hills. 

“The CSU system changed my life,” Mazariegos said. “It made it possible for me to get an education.” 

Because of the educators and staff around him, he was able to get the support he needed through one of the toughest periods of his life. During the last semester of his bachelor’s degree program he lost his father. And during his masters degree program he stayed up every night taking care of his children. 

“Because of that you all deserve much more than what you’re being offered right now,” Mazariegos said. “Yeah, we do. It is a slap in the face of the workers here. It is a slap in the face of our movement. It is a slap in the face of the students. You all deserve the respect of getting thriving wages.” 

During the march across campus, the large crowd made up of members of each of the five unions and supporters, chanted, banged drums, blew into noise makers and waved signs and flags. 

The chants included “no contract, no peace” “million dollar millie you can’t hide your greedy side, million dollar millie, you’re no good. Pay your workers like you should.” “Five unions, one fight” and “if we don’t get it, shut it down.” Million dollar Millie refers to CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia and her $1 million annual salary. 

Various signs that people were holding up said “Fair contract now” and “pay us what we’re worth.”

Across campus allied support was rife, from honking cars, raised fists and others who had signs of their own, including a couple signs from the windows of the Student Services Building. 

Without collective action and continuing to build momentum, Castillo said that the CSU will continue to squeeze every dollar out of the student body and its workers. 

“The CSU has disrespected its workforce, has disrespected its students for way too long,” Castillo said. “Our students are not an ATM machine for them and we are not a cheap labor force for them. We deserve to get paid what we deserve.”