Stanislaus State employees union members are strike-ready, cite ‘blatant disrespect’
The California State University Employees Union, including Chapter 308 at Stanislaus State, is strike ready and fighting for step-based raises, job security and reduced reliance on temporary workers.
Its contract, along with those of two other campus unions, expired July 1. The unions have been demonstrating across CSU campuses, advocating for their demands.
According to Chapter 308 President Nic Webber, the CSU system’s bargaining team “just want[s] to run out the clock … because they don’t think that we’re serious.”
“They don’t think that we will actually vote to strike. But they’re going to be very wrong if they do not figure out how to work with us and how to show up prepared,” Webber said. “There’s been a number of bargaining sessions that have happened over the past month where our team shows up, the CSU team shows up late and then says, ‘Yeah, after lunch, we’re just not going to come back because we’re not prepared.’”
CSUEU comprises the largest labor force at the California college system, representing staff members, student assistants and more who run the campus’s healthcare, graphics, clerical and technical support services, janitorial staff and more.
“It’s no one’s first choice to go on strike, because we don’t get paid,” chapter Vice President Ian Hippensteele said. “It’s hot as hell outside, staffing a strike line is no one’s idea of a good time, but it’s something that we see as a necessary step potentially in order to curb the blatant disrespect.”
Notably, CSUEU members have voiced concerns that the university system’s proposed contract would eliminate the union’s ability to strike based on unfair labor practices. “They’re trying to remove that from us and it’s something that we’re fighting hardcore against,” Webber said.
A focal point of the negotiations is a step-based raise program that would provide raises based on years worked in a classification, allowing employees to consistently move through the “steps” of their salary range and receive raises that account for increased cost of living. The program was eliminated at the CSU in the ’90s and reimplemented in October 2025. The result of the elimination was wage stagnancy, Webber said.
“We have custodians that were here for 20, 30 years and were still at the bottom or not even close to the midrange of their pay range,” Webber said.
Despite the raise system being reintroduced, Webber said employees weren’t placed at the step aligned with their years in a classification. Instead, they were placed at the step closest to their pay prior to the program being reintroduced. Being placed at the salary step corresponding to their years of service within their classification is one of the union’s demands.
Chapter 308 of the CSU union marched to university President Britt Rios-Ellis’ office last week, a demonstration that happened across several CSU campuses as current contracts expired, to deliver a letter asking for her support in their demands.
Rios-Ellis was unavailable to meet with the union representatives when they delivered their letter and hasn’t responded to the union’s letter yet.
CSU Stanislaus deferred to the CSU Chancellor’s Office when asked for comment about the letter.
“The CSU respects the free speech right of our union members. The CSU is currently in negotiations with CSUEU and is committed to bargaining in good faith toward achieving an agreement that recognizes and supports the work of our staff in fulfilling CSU’s mission,” CSU spokesperson Amy Bentley-Smith.
During the fall, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to give raises to its 22 system campus presidents, though the annual salary of Ellis Rios, who was began her role in July 2024, remained unchanged at $370,319. On its FaceBook account, the Stanislaus State union chapter posted, “How can a university justify cutting staff budgets while executive pay remains this high?” alongside Rios Ellis’ salary.
Webber said Ellis Rios makes his salary in 41 days. “I’ve been down in the print shop for just about 11 years now,” the Stanislaus State alumnus said. Webber has worked at the university since he graduated in 2012.
Hippensteele said Rios-Ellis and campus Provost Richard Ogle are paid well above the market rate for their positions. In 2024, Ogle’s salary was $291,485.33 with an additional $114,864.22 in benefits, according to Transparent California.
“We are strike ready in order to bridge the gap between an executive class of folks who are just getting benefit after benefit and a very large group of employees that we represent whose wages are stagnating,” Hippensteele said.
