UCLA, UC Irvine among campuses where 20,000 UC workers are staging statewide strike

UCLA and UC Irvine are among the University of California campuses where more than 20,000 health care, research and technical employees going on strike Tuesday over allegations of unfair labor practices.

The union University Professional and Technical Employees CWA Local 9119, or UPTE-CWA 9119, is leading the strike over two key concerns which are at the center of a complaint the union filed with a state labor board last month. According to the union, the University of California has refused to bargain over wages for several hundred employees that have become newly accredited members of the union and has imposed higher health care costs on some UPTE members. As a result, the union says, those issues have led to a worsening of an already concerning staffing shortage, hurting patient care and the support of UC research.

Nearly 40,000 UC service and patient care workers with another union, AFSCME Local 3299, are joining the thousands of UPTE members taking part in Tuesday's strike — calling it a "sympathy strike" meant as a show of solidarity.

The University of California has denied the allegations, saying it has tried to resolve ongoing negotiations with UPTE for months.

While UPTE has accused the UC of other unfair labor practices in the past, the handling of bargaining with newer members of the union who previously held non-union titles and health care costs for certain UPTE members are the union's latest concerns.

On March 17, the union filed an Unfair Labor Practice Charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board over those issues, a charge which only includes the union's allegation and has not yet been verified through investigation.

"During our contract negotiations, UC has refused to bargain over pay scales and other issues unique to the thousands of workers in non-union titles who joined UPTE in the past few years, most recently Research and Development Engineers," UPTE said in a description of the April 1 strike. "Many of these workers have been attempting to bargain separately for more than three years now."

The union said in another statement that the UC is essentially "forcing newly organized groups of workers into their own separate negotiation process to render the bargaining process hopelessly impractical and ineffective—a classic 'divide-and-conquer' strategy that violates the law." 

As for allegations of unfair health care costs, the union said the university system has "doubled down on their plans to unilaterally and unlawfully increase health insurance costs for some of the most vulnerable union members outside of the bargaining process." 

UPTE has said higher healthcare premiums have been imposed during the bargaining process for many workers.

Both UPTE and AFSCME have said these labor issues have worsened a widespread staffing shortage, which the UC denies. 

Heather Hansen, a spokesperson for the UC, said the public university system has shared data with UPTA showing that headcount of its members has been increasing and staff turnover is "flattening." Hansen said in a statement that headcount of AFSCME has also been increasing while turnover is decreasing.

In past years, the UC has acknowledged staffing issues, with UC Chief Financial Officer Nathan Brostrom reporting to the UC Board of Regents in 2023 that the university's staff vacancy rate had tripled.

The 10-campus public university system issued a statement Tuesday responding to the statewide strike.

"We have met with AFSCME and UPTE for months to try to settle these contracts, offering generous wage increases, monthly credits to reduce health care expenses for lower-wage earners, expanded sick leave, and improved ability to schedule vacation time," reads the statement from the UC, saying the strikes are "unnecessary disruptions" that cost the university system millions. 

"UPTE and AFSCME are not being forthright in their characterizations, which is upsetting since we've made sincere efforts to find mutually beneficial solutions," the statement continues. "Regardless, we are hopeful AFSCME and UPTE will make meaningful efforts to settle these contracts soon."

Hansen said the UC has been trying to finalize contracts with AFSCME and UPTE members since another widespread strike in late February — including by holding "fact-finding sessions" last week and issuing a recommendations report to be released soon.