UC Unlawfully Threatens AFSCME 3299 Members with Latest Bargaining Offer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 6, 2014
CONTACT: Todd Stenhouse, (916) 397-1131, [email protected]
Lybarger to Napolitano: UC’s Strike Costs are “self-inflicted wounds”
Oakland: In a bargaining offer e-mailed from the University of California to AFSCME 3299’s Patient Care Technical Unit on Monday, UC unlawfully threatened to rescind their proposals and deduct unspecified costs from future offers if AFSCME 3299 proceeds with its planned Strike Authorization vote on February 11-13.
“In both its contract offers, and well documented acts of illegal coercion at the workplace, UC has sought to impose second class status on 22,000 of its workers,” said AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “UC needs to stop making unlawful threats, and start offering proposals that meet the minimum standard of respect it has already granted to its other workers.”
In response, AFSCME 3299’s legal counsel has issued a Cease and Desist letter to the University of California, and AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger has penned a similar appeal to UC President Janet Napolitano.
Read the Cease and Desist Letter Here: http://action.afscme.org/c/399/images/CeaseAndDesistLetter2.4.14.pdf
Read Lybarger’s letter to Napolitano Here: http://action.afscme.org/c/399/images/LybargerLettertoNapolitano2.6.2014.pdf
With negotiators for both AFSCME 3299’s Service (SX) and Patient Care (EX) units already having conceded to UC’s demands on over 30 of 40 contract issues—as well as UC’s top priority of pension reform—the remaining sticking points remain staffing standards and wage increases.
On these priority issues for AFSCME 3299, UC has refused to offer anything commensurate with what it has already granted to its other employees.
UC also illegally coerced AFSCME 3299 members in an effort to prevent the exercise of collective bargaining rights back in May, and singled out AFSCME workers for unilateral implementation of contract terms that included what amounted to pay cuts on its lowest paid workers last year.
A recent study pointed to rising income inequality and staffing shortfalls at UC hitting AFSCME represented Service workers the hardest—with workplace injuries skyrocketing more than 20% in the last five years, 99% of service workers currently income eligible for some form of public assistance, and some full time UC workers even living in their cars.
Read the White Paper on the Struggles of UC Service Workers: https://afscme3299.org/media/runaway-inequality-at-uc/
“We want a settlement with the university and will continue to bargain in good faith,” added Lybarger. “Our members have made it clear that they will not accept second class status at UC, and that’s why our service unit is exercising their legal right to vote on authorizing a strike next week. UC must recognize that the costs associated with strikes are self inflicted financial wounds that they have brought on themselves through illegal conduct and insufficient offers on wages and staffing. Only UC has the power to prevent another strike.”
