Quick Take
UC Santa Cruz patient care, dining and transportation workers plan to join a University of California-wide one-day strike Tuesday, which workers say was in response to the university’s bad-faith bargaining during negotiations for new contracts.
UC Santa Cruz patient care, dining and transportation workers plan to join a University of California-wide one-day strike Tuesday, which workers say is in response to the university’s bad-faith bargaining during negotiations for new contracts.
Striking workers come from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) unions and work in multiple sectors including dining, custodial, transportation, information technology, research and patient care services.
UPTE’s strike is slated to start at 7 a.m. and go until 2 p.m., while AFSCME’s strike was set to begin at 12 a.m. and go until 11:59 p.m.
Tuesday’s strike will be the third time in six months that employees have gone on strike, and is happening as the university faces the Trump administration’s attempts to cut funding to universities, UPTE President and Chief Negotiator Dan Russell said in a statement.
“Public education, health care and research are under threat from the federal government,” said Russell. “UC leadership needs to ask itself if they want to side with the billionaires trying to dismantle public health care, research and education, or the front-line workers who are fighting to protect our services and the people who depend on them.”
University officials told the campus community to expect transportation delays and that campus dining locations will be open based on available staff. The UCSC Student Health Center will be open but will be operating with a reduced capacity. They recommend that students with urgent needs go to off-campus facilities.
UCSC campus provost Lori Kletzer said in an online statement that actions such as blocking access to roads or preventing cars from entering campus are considered violations of the law and campus rules. Updates about strike activities can be found on this webpage.
UC officials feel they’ve offered strong proposals to both of the unions, according to a statement.
“It’s disheartening to hear mischaracterizations of our positions and actions during these negotiations, as we’ve been genuinely trying to find solutions that work for everyone,” the statement reads. “We’re still committed to open dialogue and hope we can resolve these issues quickly to minimize disruption for our entire University community.”
AFSCME 3299 represents about 37,000 employees systemwide, including more than 27 patient care workers and 474 custodial and transportation workers at UC Santa Cruz. Union officials have been negotiating for a new contract for nearly a year. The contract for the patient care unit expired July 31, while the service worker unit contract expired Oct. 31.
UPTE 9199 represents about 19,000 physician assistants, pharmacists, mental health clinicians and information technology workers across the University of California system. There are about 223 workers represented by UPTE at UCSC. Union officials have also been negotiating for nearly one year, and their contract expired in October.
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