Some 37,000 employees of the University of California started a two-day strike on Wednesday, months after rejecting the latest offer.
The strike across 10 campuses, five medical centers, and labs came as a result of what the service and patient care workers union alleges is unfair bargaining. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 3299 union filed a complaint to the Public Employment Relations Board when UC raised premiums by 2% and copays by 50%, among other changes, for the next contract without informing its employees.
Negotiations haven’t taken place since May, when the AFSCME rejected a contract with a $25 an hour minimum wage and a 5% raise beginning July 1. Instead, the patient workers’ contract expired on July 31, and the service workers’ contract expired on Oct. 31.
“Instead of being a constructive and transparent partner seeking to bring us closer to agreement, UC has sought to drive us farther apart by consistently being unprepared, unresponsive, and by announcing plans to sidestep the bargaining process altogether and unilaterally impose huge increases in employee healthcare costs,” Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in a statement.
“In response to AFSCME’s allegations, the University disagrees wholeheartedly with them,” a UC labor communications spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “The union can file an Unfair Labor Practice charge based on unsubstantiated allegations, as they have done here. Filing a ULP does not mean there has been a finding of wrongdoing by the university.”
Meanwhile, AFSCME members have the same 2024 rates for health insurance until a new contract is created. UC has sent 26 proposals and 36 counterproposals during negotiations and claims it is awaiting another response from the union.
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The strike is meant to protest this alleged unfair practice and will end on Thursday at 6 p.m. Pacific time. Fellow union University Professional and Technical Employees also announced a strike among its 4,000 members.
The number of union workers who qualify for government-subsidized housing has tripled since 2017, according to the AFSCME. Some chose to commute multiple hours or sleep in their cars to afford to work for the university. All the while, UC CFO Nathan Brostrom said vacancy rates have only increased since before the pandemic.
