Strike plans to proceed Wednesday at UCSD hospitals

By Paul Sisson

An injunction granted Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court will not prevent a one-day strike Wednesday at five University of California hospitals, including UC San Diego facilities in Hillcrest and La Jolla.

On Tuesday morning the university asked the court to bar some essential health care workers from walking the picket line. That request was granted, but only for 49 workers statewide, leaving more than 21,000 technical and service workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to take up picket signs starting this morning.

In San Diego County, the union is planning pickets at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Thornton Hospital in La Jolla.

Four workers, all respiratory therapists in UC San Diego’s neonatal intensive care unit, were the only union members listed in the injunction that the court approved Tuesday.

On its website, UC San Diego cautioned patients that they may “experience some delays in tests or treatments” during the strike and that “labs and imaging services will be limited.”

It will be the second work stoppage in seven months for the union, which represents a range of university employees from X-ray technicians to workers who sterilize surgical equipment. Citing low staffing levels and stalled negotiations, union members held a two-day strike in May.

Today the union accuses the university of trying to intimidate its workers from striking and also with failing to reach an agreement on staffing levels despite the union’s willingness to compromise on wages and benefits.

The university, on the other hand, says the union’s unwillingness to go along with planned pension reforms is a big reason why contract negotiations have failed to conclude after 18 months.

[Source]: UT San Diego