Quick Take
More than 40,000 University of California workers, including about 530 at UC Santa Cruz, are preparing for an open-ended strike beginning Thursday. Campus officials warned students and staff to expect disruptions to dining, transportation and health services.
The union representing more than 40,000 workers in the University of California system, including about 530 at UC Santa Cruz, is planning an open-ended strike starting Thursday, accusing the university of bad-faith bargaining.
The effects of the strike are likely to be apparent on the local campus, according to UCSC officials.
UCSC Interim Campus Provost Paul Koch said in a message to the school community that the campus should expect “noticeable” impacts from the strike, including reduced transportation, dining and health services.
“Though we do not know precisely how these strike activities might impact the operation of the residential campus, we are working to do everything we can to ensure continued operations,” he said.
Koch said the campus should expect bus delays because only management personnel will be available to provide transit services.
The Student Health Center, lab and pharmacy will be open but at a reduced capacity, with fewer appointments and services. Dining services will also continue to operate but with a smaller staff and limited services and hours.
To stay up to date on the impacts, visit this campus status page, and for dining location hours and impacts, the Dining Services website.
Workers in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 (AFSCME) span a range of occupations, such as food service, transportation, electricians, custodians and patient-care workers, like nurse’s aides and radiology technologists. The union says wages simply don’t keep up with rising housing and healthcare costs.
“It’s the first time, not only for our union, but also for an open-ended hospital strike in the public sector in California,” AFSCME 3299 Executive Director Liz Perlman told Lookout. “This is really a last resort. After two years, we’ve tried everything else.”
AFSCME 3299 has been in negotiations with the university since January 2024 and is striking after filing two unfair labor practice charges against the UC. In the two charges, the union accuses the UC of refusing to bargain over housing benefits, and of raising healthcare costs without bargaining over new rates. It announced its intention to strike last month and is still negotiating. The union rejected the UC’s latest offer last week.
AFSCME officials say they’re bargaining for higher wages, housing benefits, lower healthcare costs and better job security. They say the university’s offer doesn’t come close to relieving cost-of-living pressures for workers.
“Their average salary is $62,000 which, you know, in Santa Cruz County is just nearly impossible to live on,” Perlman said. “The UCs are in some of the most expensive real estate in the country. They don’t move, but everything gets more and more expensive around them.”
The union filed the unfair labor practice charges with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a state agency that oversees labor relations between most of California’s public employers and their employees. A representative told Lookout that the agency is still reviewing the charges and therefore hasn’t yet found that the university engaged in any wrongdoing.
On Friday, the university said it offered a package including more than 34% pay growth for many employees throughout the life of the contract. AFSCME declined the offer.
“We are disappointed that the latest proposal package was not accepted,” said Missy Matella, associate vice president for systemwide labor and employee relations, in a statement. “We know employees are looking for certainty, stability and meaningful economic support, and UC remains committed to reaching an agreement that puts additional money in employees’ pockets and provides long-term support to address affordability.”
The UC says the 34% increase is reached by adding up annual raises, annual step increases and the 5% increases approved in 2025. Officials say the proposal includes annual step increases of about 2% and a 5% wage increase in 2026 and 4% increases annually through the end of the contract in 2029.
But Perlman said that although the 34% increase might sound good, it applies to only some employees. She said a third of the money for the 34% pay increase goes to two-thirds of all the union’s members. “It’s just fuzzy math,” Perlman said.
As for the university’s housing offer, in its Friday statement it wrote that instead of a housing benefit, “UC’s bargaining proposals have focused on direct employee compensation and affordability measures, including wage increases, bonuses and protections against health care cost increases, intended to provide employees with greater financial flexibility.”
UC officials and AFSCME representatives will reconvene Tuesday and Wednesday for ongoing negotiations.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.