FULLERTON, Calif. — Juan Vazquez graduated from California State University Fullerton in 2019. As a student, he worked as a community service officer for the police department.

After graduation, Vazquez became a parking officer. He’s been doing that for more than a year until, over a Zoom call, he was told he was being laid off.

What You Need To Know

  • CSUF confirms they are laying off more than 40 employees

  • Several members of the CSU Employees Union picketed the decision over the weekend

  • Protests were held in Fullerton as well as Northern California

  • Juan Vazquez worked at CSUF before and after graduating from the institution; he was notified of the Layoffs over a Zoom call

“I was surprised and taken aback a little bit because I wasn’t expecting that on a Monday morning, just another day on the job,” said Vazquez.

Vazquez is part of a group termination. On Saturday, October 3, he joined fellow CSU Employees Union members in front of Langsdorf Hall to picket against the layoffs.

The university was aware of this scheduled event.

The Associate Director of News Media Services at CSUF, Cerise Valenzuela Metzger, released the following statement:

“Due to a lack of work Cal State University Fullerton is engaging in a small workforce reduction and is engaged in a layoff process. The planned layoff would be a small reduction in the workforce for which there is no available work. Out of approximately 4,000 employees, 41 will be affected. Employees received a notice of layoff on Aug. 31 in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The effective date of the layoff for impacted employees in CSUEU is Nov. 30.”

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“I want to keep my job as a parking officer on campus," said Vazquez. "Currently, during a pandemic, you can’t really search for a job. There’s nobody that has many openings. It’s difficult."

The CSUEU planned multiple protests over the weekend, including two in Northern California.