By Catherine Ho, Health Care Reporter Feb 14, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
The entrance to the main hospital at the UCSF Parnassus campus in San Francisco. Unionized University of California workers are poised to strike late this month across all 10 UC campuses and five medical centers over what the unions say are unfair labor practices. Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
As many as tens of thousands of unionized University of California workers are poised to strike Feb. 26 to 28 across all 10 UC campuses and five medical centers over what the unions say are unfair labor practices.
Two unions, UPTE-CWA Local 9119 (University Professional and Technical Employees) and AFSCME Local 3299 (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) have authorized strikes for Feb. 26-28 and Feb. 26-27, respectively, according to union officials.
The two strikes are unrelated but slated to occur on overlapping days. Both unions are currently renegotiating contracts with UC that expired last year.
In the Bay Area, affected locations include UCSF, UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, union officials said.
UPTE represents 20,000 employees, including physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, nurse case managers, mental health workers and other staff. The union has accused UC of refusing to disclose essential information about staffing vacancies, unlawfully imposing health care cost increases on members, and imposing policies that make it harder for workers to speak up about staffing issues, according to a UPTE statement issued Friday.
AFSCME represents 37,000 workers, including respiratory therapists, surgical sterilization technicians, ultrasound technicians and radiology technicians. It has lodged similar allegations against UC.
“Instead of addressing the decline in real wages that has fueled the staff exodus at UC medical centers and campuses at the bargaining table, UC has chosen to illegally implement arbitrary rules aimed at silencing workers who are raising concerns,” AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in a statement. “UC’s blatantly illegal actions are standing in the way of constructive negotiations on the acute affordability crisis plaguing its frontline employees.”
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The UC Office of the President did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on the planned strikes or whether it plans to have backup workers if the labor actions move forward.
Reach Catherine Ho: cho@sfchronicle.com
Feb 14, 2025
HEALTH CARE REPORTER
Catherine Ho covers health care at The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining the paper in 2017, she worked at The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Journal, writing about business, politics, lobbying and legal affairs. She’s a Bay Area native and alum of UC Berkeley and the Daily Californian.
