For the third time this year, health care, research, custodial, transportation and technical workers across the University of California system, including at UC Santa Cruz, will be holding a daylong strike on May 1 to protest what they say is the university’s unlawful conduct.
The strike involves two unions, University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299. Officials from the unions say this upcoming strike was called after the UC implemented a hiring freeze on March 19. Union leadership say the hiring freeze is exacerbating an ongoing staffing crisis that has caused patient care to deteriorate and is damaging research.
AFSCME represents about 40,000 university system employees, including custodial, patient care and transportation workers at UCSC. UPTE represents about 20,000 employees statewide who work as physicians assistants, pharmacists, mental health clinicians and information technology professionals. Combined, the two unions represent 753 workers at UCSC.
After the hiring freeze was implemented, the unions asked the UC to rescind it. Alternatively, UPTE asked UC negotiators to temporarily suspend the hiring freeze and negotiate with the union over whether to fill some of the vacant positions in its bargaining unit. But the union says UC officials refused, claiming they have the authority to implement the freeze without bargaining.
In response, UPTE filed an unfair labor practice charge against the UC on April 3 and AFSCME filed a separate one on April 7. Both were filed with the Public Employment Relations Board – the state agency that oversees collective bargaining laws and contracts involving public-sector workers, including employees of California’s public schools, colleges and universities and state government workers. Their May 1 strike is based on that unfair labor practice complaint.
Union officials say the strike will take place at all UC residential campuses, laboratories and five medical centers. UPTE and AFSCME workers walked off the job previously in February and on April 1 for what they say was unlawful conduct by the UC.
UC officials say they’re focused on “reaching fair contract agreements” with both unions.
“We believe the unions will recognize our common challenges and understand the importance of reaching a consensus on several key issues rather than maintaining adversarial positions,” they wrote in a statement.
UPTE health care professionals have been working without a contract since Sep. 30, while the technical and research units have been without one since Oct. 31. For AFSCME, its patient care workers’ contracts expired July 31 and its service workers’ contracts expired Oct. 31.
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