Nearly 100 UC Hastings Workers Will Strike On March 9th
SF Law School’s Lowest Paid Workers Haven’t Had a Pay Raise in 3 years
**ALERT**
(OAKLAND, CA) – AFSCME 3299 today formally notified UC Hastings College of the Law that nearly 100 professional and administrative workers at the college will mount their first ever primary strike on March 9th. After nearly three years without a raise or a contract, the workers voted to authorize a strike last week with 89% support.
“Our members are devoted to our families and to the students we serve each day,” said Jeff Herrera, Library Operations Manager at UC Hastings. “But UC Hastings Administrators have refused to present workers with a fair wage offer—even though administrators forecast a strong financial position in the coming years and annual revenues consistently exceed expenses by millions of dollars. As a public institution, UC Hastings has a responsibility to provide its career workers with livable wages. Their substandard proposals have failed to meet this basic standard of respect and fairness, and that’s why our colleagues will strike next week.”
AFSCME 3299 represented UC Hastings College of the Law workers earn an average of $56,000 per year. The cost of living in San Francisco has risen more than 17% since the workers’ last pay increase, and a neutral fact finder in their ongoing dispute with college administrators concluded they earn far below market wages, with comparative positions at neighboring UC campuses paid as much as 20-35% more.
The AFSCME 3299 represented bargaining unit at UC Hastings includes Administrative Analysts, Administrative Specialists, Accountants, Program Coordinators, Parking Attendants, Administrative Assistants, Library Assistants, Computer Support Specialists, Web Developers, Student Services Coordinators and related occupations.
Workers voted to be represented by AFSCME 3299 in 2010 and won their first contract in 2012. The workers have been trying to negotiate a successor agreement since their second contract expired in June of 2017.
The years long dispute has already seen the school’s past two commencement speakers—SF Mayor London Breed and Congressman Adam Schiff—cancel appearances in solidarity with UC Hastings workers.
AFSCME 3299 represented UC Hastings workers will launch their open-ended strike on Monday. Picket Lines will commence at 8:00 a.m. at 200 McAllister Street in San Francisco.
“For three long years, UC Hastings Administrators have tried to push our members to accept below market pay, and a future where their families must choose between paying the rent or paying for other basic necessities for their families,” added AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “For a taxpayer-funded public institution that routinely finds ways to line the pockets of its highest paid elites, this is not just unacceptable, it is immoral. We will not rest until the professionals that make UC Hastings run are provided a contract that values their work and ensures their families can live with dignity.”
