The University of California will not fire “career employees” at any UC campus through June for reasons stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, University of California President Janet Napolitano and the chancellors of each UC campus announced in a joint statement Thursday morning.
Career employees — which includes gardeners, dining hall workers, faculty, administrators and doctors and nurses at UC medical centers — will be protected at all 10 UC campuses. Irene Chen / Daily Nexus
Career employees — which includes gardeners, dining hall workers, faculty, administrators and doctors and nurses at UC medical centers — will be protected at all 10 UC campuses, five medical centers and the Office of the President.
Napolitano clarified in the statement that this does not mean that there will not be cutbacks on hours or layoffs for staff as part of “typical student and career employee summer staffing and clinical workforce adjustments.”
The statement also said that the UC will begin discussions with employee groups to “consider the conditions under which we may be able to extend this promise of job protection beyond June 30th, should that be necessary.”
With an entirely remote spring quarter and a statewide stay-at-home order, many employees working in on-campus services are unable to work, while other university employees deemed as working in essential services, such as medical workers, have continued working under critical conditions.
The statement said that the UC will work with unions to “redeploy workers to areas of need to keep as many employees working as possible.”
“Providing pay and health and welfare benefits during this period will allow employees to more effectively care for themselves and their families,” the statement read.
Janet’s message is likely intended to be comforting, but instead it made me nervous that my career staff admin position might not be secure after June 30.