A UC-wide union representing 37,000 service and patient care workers announced on Oct. 10 that a strike vote will be held from Oct. 28-30 which may authorize a system-wide Unfair Labor Practice Strike. The union alleged the University engaged in “bad-faith bargaining” ahead of their service workers contract expiration according to an Oct. 31 press release.
AFSCME 3299 announced on Oct. 10 that it would hold a vote to authorize a work strike on Oct. 28-30 after accusing the University of bad-faith bargaining. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299 has been working to negotiate new contracts for over 11,000 service workers and 25,000 patient care workers for nearly a year. The patient care workers contract expired on July 31 and the service workers contract will expire on Oct. 31.
AFSCME 3299 alleged the University failed to bargain over recently announced plans to increase healthcare costs and and refused to provide staff vacancy and financial information relevant to the bargaining process, according to the press release. They also claimed UC representatives continually came to bargaining sessions unprepared and without authority to negotiate.
Several workers organized a rally at the library steps on Oct. 10, demanding that the University meets their demands for better pay and affordable housing options. They also protested several UC chancellors receiving near 30% raise increases this year.
The union requested a 9% raise in the first year of their five-year contract, a 4% raise in the second year and a 2% raise in the last three years. The UC’s counter proposal, announced on Feb. 22, was a 5% raise in the first year, a 4% raise in the second year and a 2% raise in the remaining years.
“For the past year, our bargaining team has come to every session prepared to discuss the job quality needs of our members, and the staff vacancy crisis that UC’s own leadership has acknowledged in public forums,” AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in the press release.
The University’s staff vacancy has tripled since before the pandemic, according to UC Chief Financial Officer’s Nathan Brostrom’s statement at Jan. 18 UC Regents meeting last year. A report by AFSCME 3299 indicated a decline in real wages — wages adjusted for inflation — since COVID-19 and a housing affordability crisis, which disproportionately affects low-income communities and people of color. It also found that the UC’s most diverse, as frontline service workers and patient care workers are 80% people of color, workforces are among the lowest paid workers across the UC.
“Instead of working to reach agreement that resolves these issues, University representatives showed up empty handed and without authority to negotiate, ignored repeated requests for time-sensitive information, offered predictably unacceptable proposals, and most recently, sought to sidestep bargaining altogether by announcing that it would unilaterally impose dramatic increases to employee healthcare premiums, co-pays, and the cost of prescription drugs,” Avant continued.
If AFSCME 3299 votes to authorize a strike, the University would receive 10 days notice before any work stoppage.
The Nexus will continue to update this story as more information becomes available. A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 17, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
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