CSUMB unions call for resignation of personnel administrator citing mishandling of layoffs.

Days after the announcement that 29 CSU Monterey Bay employees were being laid off due to lack of work because of Covid-19, the administration held a virtual town hall meeting to answer employees’ questions. The queries had to be submitted in advance with no follow-ups during the event. As some employees waited online to hear answers, Natalie King, associate vice president of university personnel, abruptly announced all questions had been answered and ended early, according to Sathyan Sundaram, president of CSU Employees Union Chapter 322, who attended the meeting.

Sundaram calls the town hall a “disaster,” another data point in why CSUMB employees are distrustful of the administration in the wake of the layoff announcement and why four unions signed a letter to CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa on Sept. 2, calling for King’s immediate resignation and rescission of all layoff notices.

More than a badly handled meeting in the unions’ eyes, other alleged administration missteps include layoff notices issued then rescinded more than once due to being sent to some employees in the wrong positions, among other issues. “It seems clear the administration didn’t know what they were doing,” Sundaram says. A written statement to the Weekly from administrators states, “the final tally of affected employees is still unfolding” and could be fewer.

Also troubling, Sundaram says, are slow or no responses from HR administrators, especially to senior employees who could have the opportunity to step down to lower positions. Some live in university housing and need to know if and when they’ll be forced to move.

Ochoa acknowledged the distressing nature of layoffs in an open letter to the CSUMB community, writing: “It pains me that the impact of the pandemic on our work requires us to do this.” He promised laid-off staff would be first in line for jobs once the campus reopens.

Two unions with impacted members filed grievances on Sept. 8.