UCSC prepares for disruptions to transit, dining and health services during two-day strike this week

UC Santa Cruz is preparing for disruptions to services such as on-campus bus shuttles and dining halls Wednesday and Thursday as the union representing hundreds of those workers goes on strike for two days across the University of California system and its medical centers.  

“We anticipate the strike will have noticeable impacts to the services provided by campus dining, transit, and health services,” said Campus Provost Lori Kletzer in a campus message. “We will be focusing our efforts on instructional and operational continuity, to fulfill our mission of teaching, research, and public service.”

The university said buses will likely be delayed, dining services will open depending on the staffing level and the health center will likely reduce its appointments. Some buses will be running, however, as a “limited number of management personnel” will be driving them. 

Earlier this month, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) Local 3299 — which represents University of California employees who work in patient care, dining, custodial, transportation and other service areas — announced that its workers had authorized a systemwide labor strike after filing unfair labor practice charges against the UC. 

In that complaint, the union accuses the UC system of illegal bad faith bargaining in contract negotiations that includes being “unresponsive, and by announcing plans to sidestep the bargaining process altogether and unilaterally impose huge increases in employee health care costs.” The union says its workers are facing increased health care costs of 9% to 11%. 

During negotiations, the union has demanded the university apply a $25 minimum wage retroactive to 2023, while the university has proposed that increase starting in 2025. AFSCME negotiators have also proposed a housing fund for rent and mortgage assistance, while they say the university hasn’t made a proposal for housing benefits. 

It’s been more than a year since the AFSCME Local 3299 union began contract negotiations. The UC system’s contract with the unit of patient care workers expired July 31, and its contract with service workers expired Oct. 31. 

AFSCME 3299 represents 37,000 patient care, custodial and transportation workers –  including more than 27 patient care workers and 474 custodial and transportation workers at UC Santa Cruz. Lookout sought comment from AFSCME 3299 workers at UCSC, but a spokesperson said that workers will be available at the picket line during the strike on Wednesday and Thursday. 

UC officials deny the claims made by AFSCME in its unfair labor practice charges. 

“AFSCME’s statements that the University has refused to bargain in good faith are unfounded, confusing and not consistent with the parties’ bargaining history,” they wrote in a statement. “The issues AFSCME raises in its [unfair labor practice charge] are false and further, reflect issues that are endemic to the nation: increased cost of living and the economic disparities the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated.” 

Sebastián Valdez, 21 and a fourth-year psychology major, is a student-organizing intern with AFSCME 3299. He said his main role as a part-time staff member for the union is to bridge the gap between the workers and students. Valdez isn’t a worker represented by the union. 

Lately, as part of his work, he’s been having conversations with students to help them understand why the union is striking. In those conversations, Valdez said he describes the unfair labor practice allegations and the economic situations of many workers, some of whom work multiple jobs and sometimes drive about two hours to and from work to make ends meet. 

He hopes that students will understand the strike as more than a disruption. 

“Student support is something that can show the university that the union is not something to disrespect,” he said. “Just to show that students are more with the union and stand with the demands.”

In her campus message, Kletzer reiterated the university’s goal of preserving free speech rights while also preserving the right to access education, housing and other facilities on campus. She said employees aren’t “obligated to engage in collective labor activities, such as striking” and also emphasized that blocking cars or people from campus by blocking roadways or intersections “violates the law and campus policy.” 

“Students, staff, faculty and their families living on campus experience delays and stress about getting to off-campus jobs or appointments on time,” she wrote. “Blocking or reducing access to campus entrances can result in discipline for both students and employees.”

Following a tumultuous spring when students in solidarity with Palestine set up encampments on college campuses, including UCSC, and demanded that schools divest from investments in companies that financially support Israel, the UC system implemented new restrictions on protests and reinforced old ones. Called “time, place and manner restrictions,” many students have denounced the policies –  including a new one that prohibits masking during protests – as infringing on their rights. The policies include a ban on encampments. 

In response to the strike and the university’s policies, some students will be marching in solidarity with AFSCME workers and simultaneously calling out the university’s free speech policies on Wednesday morning. The march is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Quarry Plaza and will make its way to the base of campus, where workers are planning to picket from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Lola Quiroga, a fourth-year computer science major, said she supports the union’s strike and is planning to participate in the student-organized march. 

“I support their demands,” she said. “[Transportation and Parking Services] drivers and dining hall workers across all UC campuses deserve affordable health care – undergraduate students also struggle with health care costs – and I think that the strike movement needs people behind it.” 

She said the university’s message to campus about the upcoming strike being disruptive and telling workers that they’re not obligated to strike “pins these workers as the bad guy.” 

“We need more people to support and show that their demands are valid and fair, and that especially because the narrative tends to be like, ‘This is disruptive to campus, to students,’” she said. “And when students stand up and support [the workers], it shows that we’re willing to make those sacrifices.”

She added that students are concerned about the UC’s time, place and manner restrictions. 

“I think the campus climate is very upset at the UC for silencing and repressing student voices and worker voices,” she said. “The time, place and manner policies kind of aim to criminalize and fight back against students who are fighting against the system.” 

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