Click here if you are having trouble viewing this message.

CSU Proposes Slight Tweaks to Steps Proposal – Still Far From What Is Needed for Real Salary Reform

CSUEU Bargaining Team and CSU Management met on Tuesday (May 9) to continue negotiations. We wish there were good news to share, but there isn’t. Management proposed some slight tweaks to their previous 23 steps at 2% proposal. 

For most CSUEU-represented employees, the latest CSU proposal would merely move them one step up – no matter how far behind their current pay is compared to the market.

Less than a third of our employees would be recognized for their seniority up to Year 5. The majority would move to the next closest step which would be a less-than-2% increase. The latest proposal is unacceptable.

Management is not addressing the horrible wage gaps, which the CSU caused, by strippping salary steps from employees over the past 30 years. The CSU is proposing a step movement for a single year and does not address any future salary progression.

Download Stickers and Zoom backgrounds!

So if the CSU is not willing to step up, then we will have to. The Board of Trustees meets on May 23 and CSUEU members will be there to make sure the CSU leadership knows we are not going away.

The Mercer salary study provided a clear framework for salary reform. There is no way back, only forward. As frontline workers who provide essential support services to students and faculty, we deserve better than having to struggle paycheck-to-paycheck. 

Look for a bold petition drive on May 23 to support our bargaining goal of equitable salary reform for all CSUEU staff. Be sure to sign your name and share it widely.

Tell CSU to #LetUsVote!

On Monday, I was honored to speak at the Young Workers Panel at the #UnionizeCalifornia conference in Sacramento where 500 union members and elected officials from across the state held up our signs and chanted "Let Us Vote!" in support of our historic campaign. 

I told them the CSU is using bureaucracy to DELAY our union election and they all wanted to know how they could help! I asked them to send out Tweets and @ the CSU to #LUVStudentWorkers – and the Tweets are pouring in! 

As our closest allies, you, the members of CSUEU, can join in and help us make the final days of our semester count by doing two things:

1. PRODUCE UNION CARDS:
Sign ANYONE who worked as a Student Worker in March. If they got paid on April 15, they are eligible and should sign – even if they’re about to graduate!

Sign them up using this link.

2. PRESSURE CSU TO #LetUsVote:

Tweet @CalState to #LUVStudentWorkers. Join our supporters from Monday and send your own #LetUsVote tweet to CSU in just 3 clicks.

Use sample messages or make it your own!

Utkarsh Mehta speaking at the #UnionizeCalifornia conference while allies hold up #LetUsVote signs

I left the conference on Monday feeling so inspired by all the solidarity we have with our union siblings across the state, especially with the members of CSUEU.

In Solidarity,
Utkarsh Mehta (he/him/they/them)
Student Assistant, Sacramento State

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

According asianpacificheritage.gov, the month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants (along with Irish and German immigrants.)

CSUEU is proud to recognize our more than 2,500 union siblings who identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander. At the CSU, about 17 percent of the workforce are AAPI.

If you are interested in joining CSUEU's Asian American Constituency Group, please contact the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

CSUEU Members Approve 1.2% Dues Rate

Recognizing that organizations - and people - grow when we invest in them, CSUEU members voted to approve adjusting the union dues rate in order to build up resources needed for our Path to Power. 

More than 4,300 CSUEU members participated in the vote, with 54% approving increasing the dues rate from 1% to 1.2%. For members, the average increase is not quite $10 per month. It is anticipated that the change will take effect in August paychecks.

With the additional revenue stream, CSUEU members can expect to see more staff and union resources on campus:

+ MORE Labor Relations Representatives (LRRs) who can help with worksite issues and work with chapters to be strike-ready. 
+ MORE political activism supported by a political director. CSU funding is set by the legislators we help elect and we will invest more in making sure our voices are heard in Sacramento. 
+ MORE communications. Our work for salary reform and student assistant organizing continues to draw statewide media attention. By increasing our communications team, we will be able to continue lifting our brand as the union that fights for a better CSU community for all. 

CSUEU retained Election Buddy, an online voting software, to run the election. The company handled all the ballots and provided CSUEU the results.

“I am encouraged to see so many turned out to exercise their voting right as union members. And I am heartened that the majority made the decision to empower ourselves with more resources so that we can do what it takes – whatever it takes – to win fair pay through a merit salary steps structure.

"This vote signals our members are in it to win it; there is no stopping us.”
- Catherine Hutchinson, CSUEU President

 www.csueu.org/join

www.csueu.org/connect | member benefits website

Connect With Us

CSUEU | 910 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 

Change your Subscription Preferences