UC Workers Begin 3-Day Strike, Oct. 23rd-25th
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 12, 2018
CONTACT: JOHN DE LOS ANGELES | [email protected] | 650-438-1961
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
(OAKLAND, CA) – Tomorrow, Patient Care Technical workers represented by the University of California’s largest employee union, AFSCME Local 3299, will begin a 3-day strike to protest alarming patterns of inequality that they say is driven by the University’s practice of outsourcing jobs to contract companies that pay workers less and offer little to no benefits.
Though workers have repeatedly raised these issues during labor negotiations, the University decided last month to impose employment terms on the workers that would risk more outsourcing while flattening wages, raising healthcare premiums, and lifting the retirement age.
“Through its actions, the University of California is making income, racial, and gender inequality at UC worse,” commented Monica De Leon, Vice President of AFSCME Local 3299’s Patient Care Technical Unit. “They’re destroying what were once career pathways to the middle-class for our state’s diverse population and are damaging the quality of service that we provide to students, patients, and everyday Californians.”
“We’ve bargained in good faith for over a year to address outsourcing at UC because it creates unequal and insecure circumstances that workers must struggle with every day,” added AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “Instead of joining us in an effort to arrest these alarming trends, UC has insisted on deepening them—leaving workers no option but to strike.”
Additionally, AFSCME leaders have taken steps to ensure that the public’s health and safety remain a top priority for striking workers.
“AFSCME, the University, the Public Employment Relations Board, and the Superior Court were all involved in determining a limited number of employees who should continue to work during a strike,” stated AFSCME 3299 Executive Director Liz Perlman. “AFSCME not only intends to honor that agreement, but has additionally assembled a Patient Protection Task Force that’s ready to respond if the University’s contingency plans were to fail.”
AFSCME Local 3299’s 15,000+ Patient Care Technical workers will begin their strike on Tuesday morning, with over 9,000 AFSCME represented Service workers and roughly 15,000 UPTE-CWA technical workers joining them in solidarity.
The strike comes just months after the University’s Service workers staged a 3-day strike in May, which prompted 53,000 UC workers to walk off the job.
Details of the 5 major Patient Care Technical Unit strike lines can be found below. For a full list of picket line locations, click here.
Picket Times, Locations, Rally Schedules, and Expected Dignitaries:
Details and events may be subject to change and will be updated in a new advisory each morning.
UCLA Medical Center
- Picket Time: 7:00am – 6:00pm
- Address: Ronald Reagan Medical Center, 757 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA
- Rally Time: Noon (12:00pm)
- Expected Dignitaries: TBD
- Press Contact: John de los Angeles ([email protected]; 650-438-1961)
UCSF Medical Center
- Picket Time: 7:00am – 6:00pm
- Address: Parnassus Medical Center, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA
- Rally Time: Noon (12:00pm)
- Expected Dignitaries: TBD
- Press Contact: Todd Stenhouse ([email protected]; 916-397-1131)
UCSD Medical Center
- Picket Time: 7:00am – 6:00pm
- Address: Jacobs Medical Center, 9300 Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, CA
- Rally Time: Noon (12:00pm)
- Expected Dignitaries: TBD
- Press Contact: Namita Waghray ([email protected]; 440-305-1117)
UC Davis Medical Center
- Picket Time: 7:00am – 6:00pm
- Address: 2315 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, CA
- Rally Time: Noon (12:00pm)
- Expected Dignitaries: TBD
- Press Contact: Justin Lee ([email protected]; 816-261-2398)
UC Irvine Medical Center
- Picket Time: 7:00am – 6:00pm
- Address: 101 The City Drive S, Orange, CA
- Rally Time: Noon (12:00pm)
- Expected Dignitaries: TBD
- Press Contact: Jashua Bane ([email protected]; 213-841-8490)
