Tens of thousands of workers at University of California campuses and UC health care facilities are walking off the job for two days.
The strike includes more than 36,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who provide service and patient care and more than 19,000 members of the Union of Professional and Technical Employees who work in health care, research and technical jobs across the UC system.
People with appointments at UCSF Mission Bay could feel an impact. And students at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and other UC campuses will feel an impact in dining halls and other facilities.
It's the second time the two unions have walked out.
Union leaders accuse UC management of unfair labor practices. The union contracts expired in July and October of last year.
The wage crisis is just one part of what the workers are fighting for, union leaders say.
Local
"Our members are now dealing with essentially a 10% wage cut because of inflation and the housing crisis," said Liz Perlman, executive director with AFSCME 3299. "University officials give themselves free benefits while our members struggle to find housing, and there’s a health care crisis. UC just illegally imposed cuts where health care workers are having to choose paying for insulin or paying for their kids' backpacks or paying for rent."
UC leaders released a statement that blames the unions for the negotiation breakdown, saying in part: "UPTE, who began strike preparations the same month contract negotiations began, failed to attend the most recent bargaining session and declared an impasse before responding to our offers. AFSCME has not responded to the university's proposals or counterproposals since May 2024."
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
According to UC leaders, they and AFSCME are working through a state-regulated process. UC made new offers to AFSCME two weeks ago that include 18% increases over five years, beginning with 5% this year. UC and UPTE met for mediation at the end of January. The offer on the table was a 5% across the board increase and 3% in years two and three.
UCSF on Wednesday released a statement, saying in part that it has prepared for this week’s strike, "with contingency plans in place to ensure that UCSF Health can continue to provide the quality of care for which it is known and that campus operations continue uninterrupted."
The strike began at midnight Wednesday and will continue all day Thursday.
Read the full statement released by UCSF on Wednesday:
