Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119 plan to strike April 1 at all University of California campuses and medical centers, with members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 joining in solidarity.
Six things to know:
1. UPTE represents approximately 20,000 healthcare, research, and technical employees across the UC system, while AFSCME represents approximately 40,000 UC service and patient care workers. The Oakland-based UC system comprises 10 campuses, serving more than 295,000 students and employing about 265,000 faculty and staff in total.
2. UC employees have gone on strike two other times in the past six months. UPTE began bargaining with UC in June 2024, and members’ contracts expired in fall 2024. AFSCME began bargaining with UC in January 2024, and members’ contracts expired July 31 (patient care workers) and Oct. 31 (service workers).
3. UC said in a statement that during negotiations, it has “offered what we believe are strong proposals that recognize their important work. To date, these offers include competitive wage increases over the life of the contract, healthcare premium reductions for lower-paid workers, expanded sick leave and increased vacation use rights.”
4. Union members contend that UC has engaged in bad faith bargaining, including its refusal to address proposals for certain employees and the imposition of higher healthcare costs on UPTE members.
“When we joined UPTE nearly three years ago, we brought concerns to the bargaining table about our students grappling with depression, anxiety, sexual assault, stress, and even thoughts of suicide. They refused to engage with us then, and now that we’ve joined statewide negotiations with other UPTE members, we see the same pattern of bad faith,” Marlene Vasquez, a behavioral health counselor at UC Davis, said in a UPTE news release shared with Becker’s.
“Our members know UC’s pattern of serial lawbreaking at the bargaining table, first hand,” AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in a statement. “It continues to impede constructive negotiations and a solution to the affordability crisis and staff vacancy epidemic plaguing UC’s front-line workforce. That’s why our members will join their UPTE-CWA colleagues in solidarity on April 1.”
5. UPTE-represented workers preparing to strike include physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, case managers, rehabilitation specialists, mental health clinicians, clinical lab scientists, staff research associates, IT workers and other professionals. AFSCME-represented workers preparing to strike include those working in custodial services, food preparation, building maintenance and groundskeeping, as well as respiratory therapists, pharmacy technicians and other technical staff.
6. “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,” UC said in its statement. “We’re still committed to open dialogue and hope we can resolve these issues quickly to minimize disruption for our entire university community.”
