The International Brotherhood of Teamsters at Sacramento State joined approximately 1,100 union members across the California State University system in a four-day strike that began on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and ended the following Friday.

Members of Teamsters Local 2010 say the CSU has failed to honor raises and step increases promised in their three-year contract negotiated in 2024. The strike comes from facility and maintenance employees of the campus, including heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialists, plumbers, electricians and automotive technicians.

Teamsters argues that state funding allocated to the CSU earlier this year was sufficient to cover the raises agreed on in the 2024 contract.

Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer and principal officer of Teamsters Local 2010, said organizing a coordinated strike across every CSU campus, excluding Cal Poly Solano, required planning and support from every member of the union. He said the decision to move forward with the strike is a clear reflection of the frustration among workers systemwide.

“So it’s a big and ambitious undertaking to plan a strike across 22 campuses,” Rabinowitz said. “Our members are really strong and well organized, but most importantly, they’re fired up right now because they’ve been treated very unfairly by the CSU, and they’re not going to take it anymore.”

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Rabinowitz said the union remains open to meeting and negotiating with the CSU administration to resolve the dispute, but it centers on whether the CSU will follow through on the agreed contract.

“We’re ready to meet with [the] CSU and negotiate any time. We were with them at the table last week in mediation,” Rabinowitz said. “CSU wanted to know, ‘How do we avert the strike?’ Well, it’s very straightforward. It’s not complicated. Pay the raises. Keep your promise. That’s it.”

Rabinowitz also said there were questions about how funds are being prioritized within the system. Rabinowitz said workers are closely watching executive compensation and other spending decisions made by the CSU.

“They’ve got money for the executives, and they’ve got money to put up all the nice, fancy buildings. They’ve got money to be fair to the workers that have to maintain this place, including the stadiums and the athletic facilities,” Rabinowitz said. “So let’s be fair to the workers too. You can afford it, CSU.”

Workers on the picket line said participating in the strike meant losing out on wages but saw it as a necessary step to highlight their role on campus.

A pile of picket signs are laid beside a tree Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. Over 1,000 International Brotherhood of Teamsters members participated in the CSU-wide strike. (Vanessa Gomez)

According to the Teamsters Local 2010’s website, the union provides strike benefits to those who participate. The website states that those who complete a full shift all four days of the strike will be eligible for a $600 compensation from the strike fund.

“We save up a little bit of our budget every year, and so that when we do have to go on strike, we can provide our members with a benefit,” Rabinowitz said. “It’s not as much as your day’s pay, but it helps, and that’s how we help support our members.”

During a rally on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the strikers gathered near the J Street campus entrance. “Who runs the CSU? We do,” and “CSU, pay up” chants filled the air, even while the rain and wind picked up around them.

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Mat Maison, a facilities worker and Teamsters member, said he views the strike as a response to the breakdown in trust during negotiations.

“This is an unfair labor practice strike,” Maison said. “The CSU did not honor the third year of our contract. We’ve been at the mediation table, we’ve been through fact finding, and the legislature fully funded the CSU for this term.”

Maison said skilled trades employees maintain heating systems, plumbing and electrical infrastructure across campus. He said the university depends on their labor every day, even if their efforts go unnoticed.

“We keep the buildings warm, keep the drains unclogged and keep everything running,” Maison said. “We’re willing to take this four-day strike and give up thousands of dollars of our own income to show them our worth and our impact on this campus.”

Anthony Valdez, a building service engineer for Facilities Management who has worked at Sac State for 17 years, said he joined the CSU system because of its reputation for strong pay and benefits.

“When I first got here, the benefits were great. Pay was great,” Valdez said. “It’s steadily declined, that’s sort of why we’re out here.”

Valdez said the department is losing newly trained workers to higher-paying jobs in the private sector and local agencies.

“We can’t just pull anybody off the street,” Valdez said. “They have to have exact training, certain types of experience in industrial and commercial systems. We’re losing them as soon as we get them.”

International Brotherhood of Teamsters representatives spoke during a rally on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. Leadership talked about the purpose of their strike, gave motivational slogans and called for action from the university. (Vanessa Gomez)

The California Faculty Association, representing faculty on campus, joined the strike throughout the week in solidarity. Some faculty members said they saw the parallels between the Teamsters’ dispute and previous negotiations involving other CSU unions.

Zach Schudson, a psychology professor and CFA member, said he believed it was very important for faculty to show solidarity with the Teamsters. He connected the strike to broader concerns about labor relations within the CSU system.

“I came out because the Teamsters were out here for us,” Schudson said. “The same pattern of disrespect from CSU management is affecting all unions representing CSU employees.”

The Sacramento Regional Transit announced temporary detours in solidarity with the Teamsters’ strike. Due to RT bus drivers also being union workers, they chose not to cross the picket line at the J Street entrance. As a result, buses did not enter campus as stated in a campus-wide email from Administration and Business Affairs.

Students also voiced support at the rally. Bella Seibel, a junior journalism and political science major, participated in the rally on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and said she saw the strike affecting students firsthand. She said this strike affects every single person on campus.

“The struggles are interconnected with the students and teachers,” Seibel said. “They’re denying them their pay, they’re raising our tuition and then giving the president a raise.”

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In November 2025, the CSU Board of Trustees approved salary increases for multiple campus presidents, including a 6% raise for President Luke Wood. This decision has drawn criticism from labor unions, including the CFA and Teamsters, which have questioned the CSU’s spending priorities.

Seibel also pointed out how much of the campus’ functions are dependent on maintenance employees’ work. She said that students can feel the absence of the workers’ presence from their campus job sites.

“They also literally keep the campus running,” Seibel said.

Schudson said that the CSU honoring the negotiated agreements is essential to maintaining a stable academic environment. He said that trust between administration and employees affects the entire campus community, not just union negotiations.

“The CSU is not doing what it says it will,” Schudson said. “It’s not only offering subpar options in contract negotiations and maintaining an adversarial relationship with unions, but it’s also not honoring contracts it has already agreed upon.”

As the strike entered its final day, Valdez said negotiations were taking place in Long Beach. Though the results are not yet known, everyone on the picket line was eager to find out the outcome.

“Our current president, Wood, and our Teamsters president [Sean M. O’Brien] are all in Long Beach right now, behind closed doors,” Valdez said. “We’re hoping the mediation goes well and in our favor.”

As the four-day strike concluded on Friday, Teamsters remains hopeful that an agreement can be reached soon. Despite rain and cold temperatures throughout the week, workers said the outpour of solidarity from students and other faculty has been overwhelming.

“Thanks to the students for standing with us,” Rabinowitz said. “It’s all about the students. That’s why our members come to work every day.”

On Feb. 12, students received an email from the President’s Office that announced classes would continue and student services would remain open during the Teamsters’ scheduled strike. The State Hornet reached out to the CSU for comment but could not respond by press time.

Additional reporting by Maya Denae Taylor, Vanessa Gomez and Vivian Gonzalez.