This is the final part in a series of dispatches as News Editor Seamus Bozeman follows developments about the Teamsters Local 2010 strike at Cal State LA and across the CSU system this week. Read the third story here: Dispatch #3: A lesson in activism, rain and strike pay, day three at the Cal State LA Teamsters Local 2010 Strike – University Times 

The final day started as it always had. Picketing, chants, peaceful disruption and noise. But this final day was different. Music playing, motorcycles revving, smiles, laughing and occasional dance moves. The feeling that change could be coming was in the air, and the four days of picketing and disruption through torrential rain and occasional sunshine were all worth it at Cal State LA’s picket lines. 

“We’re riding high right now on a wave that we created,” Dennis Sotomayor, the chief steward of Teamsters Local 2010 at Cal State LA said. “You saw the support, you saw the legislators. I don’t think there’s any stopping us moving forward now.”

This was the final day of the historic four-day Teamsters Local 2010 Unfair Labor Practices Strike that impacted every single one of the 22 California State University System campuses. Union members and union allies continue to call on the school system to honor and payout raises owed since July 2025 to the 1,100 tradesworkers represented by Teamsters Local 2010, even after the strike ended.

“We got our message out to the entire state,” Secretary Treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010, Jason Rabinowitz said. “Our voices were heard and the entire state of California has heard and learned from us about CSU’s unfair practices, and unfair treatment of workers. We shut them [the CSU] down all across the state.”  

Across the state, nearly all 1,100 workers represented by Teamsters Local 2010 went on strike and participated, Rabinowitz said. 

“I think that when they tally up the results and the losses from this strike and when they look back on it,” Rabinowitz said. “I think they’re going to realize that they probably spent more and lost more than they tried to save by ripping off our members.”

The high participation rate across the CSU led to issues with maintenance and other systems that workers represented by the union typically handle, including leaky roofs because of this week’s rain, hot water issues and other problems that went unsolved. It is unclear if any of these issues occurred at Cal State LA, but Sotomayor said that work was still being done, even with many of the facility’s workers on the picket lines. 

“And in our absence, they still have facilities that need attention,” Sotomayor said. “A lot of the contractors that they tried to bring in after the fact, we stopped them at the strike line. We turned some of them away and other ones we just delayed all week.” 

Sotomayor said that the contractors and workers doing the construction work at Greenlee Plaza and on Circle Drive didn’t come in all week, and he’d said he wasn’t sure if it was the rain or the strike. 

“I don’t care what the reason is, they didn’t come,” Sotomayor said. 

The final day was a day of unity among unions, both from union chapters at Cal State LA and from across the Los Angeles area, all standing in support of the ongoing labor struggle as the Teamsters Local 2010 removed their picket lines and marched from the Welcome Center to the former administration building, where they gathered for a rally to cap off the strike. 

The unions marching were led by two motorcycle escorts from the Teamsters Thunder Motorcycle Club. The club “aims to develop a meaningful relationship between Teamsters and the community by supporting charities and community events to bring good light to the Teamster organization and to support our local unions,” according to their website. 

The rally included a local State Senator, Rabinowitz, a representative from Teamsters Local 399, the Cal State LA Chapter President of the CSU Employees Union, the Chapter President of the California Faculty Association and others. Local 399 represents workers in the motion picture industry, including drivers, location professionals, animal trainers, animal wranglers and others. 

But, among the joy and happiness of the successes of disrupting the CSU system for the four days, frustration with the CSU administration and Chancellor Mildred Garcia was a recurring theme, pointing fingers at pay raises for Cal State Presidents, and Executives but none for the working class. 

“They got raises, but when it comes to paying workers, oh, they said they’re broke,” Rabinowitz said. 

The CSU was the only public school employer in the state not to give pay raises to its workers in 2025, according to Rabinowitz. 

Rabinowitz pointed to several sources of funding, including annual 6% increases to tuition until the 2028-2029 academic year and billions in the CSU’s reserves to pay what Teamsters Local 2010 is owed.

However, at the Nov. 18, 2025 CSU Board of Trustees meeting, the Financial Committee said that the CSU system as a whole has a large portion of its $6.6 billion of investments committed to current ongoing obligations, which acts as part of their reserves. 

An additional $760 million is available for “discretionary uses” but can only fund the CSU for 32 days, far below the board’s own policy of having three to six months of rainy day funds and backup reserves. 

In the 2025-2026 budget, California State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who represents State Senate District 26, said that when California solved the CSU budget shortfall, the raises were meant for contractually agreed-upon raises. District 26 encompasses Cal State LA and several surrounding areas, including Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Eagle Rock and Koreatown.  

“When we approved the raises, it was for you,” Durazo said. “We approved that. You didn’t get it. So they [referring to the CSU] backed off of the words that they gave to the legislature. They backed off. Not only to you, but they backed off of what they promised the legislature.”

The CSU has not provided any publicly available statements since the first day of the strike, which urged the Teamster to return to the bargaining table. 

“We will find out whether CSU is ready to be reasonable or whether we’re going to need to keep on fighting,” Rabinowitz said “But Teamsters are ready to keep on fighting till we win.” 

At the rally it wasn’t just about the continuation and accomplishments of the current labor fight the conclusion of the strike, and the anger towards the school system, but also grievances about the state of the United States and California as a whole. The issues that came up included the continuation of ICE raids, rapidly rising costs, federal funding threats and stagnant wages for the wider working class community. 

“You know what? We are fucking worth it. We are worth it. We’re worth every damn penny,” CSU Employees Union Chapter President Kenneth Castillo said at the rally. “Everything [in cost] has gone up since the pandemic, except for all our wages.” 

But the movement is far from over, as next steps are planned and each major union group on campus preps for their next union contracts, as their current one expires over the summer. Many of them are deep in the bargaining process and are unsure what the future brings.  

“I stand with an amazing group of individuals, a coalition that cares about this campus and each other,” Sotomayor said. “We don’t always agree on values or social issues, but we will stand together united for any labor issue.”