(The Center Square) – Almost 60,000 University of California health care and service workers continued to strike Thursday throughout the state.
The UC employees are represented by two unions that began separate strikes Wednesday after the unions and the university failed to reach a new contract. Neither strike is scheduled to continue beyond this week.
Both unions are accusing UC – which has 10 campuses stretching from San Diego to locations such as Irvine, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Berkeley – of unfair bargaining tactics and efforts to silence workers.
The university has denied the allegations.
The strikes are taking place at UC’s 10 campuses, hospitals, clinics and laboratories, as well as the UC Hastings College of Law.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 represents more than 37,000 workers, which include service employees, patient care technical workers, skilled craft workers and others. The contract for the union’s workers expired July 31.
The union, which indicated Thursday as the final day of its strike, accused the university of failing to respond to workers’ concerns.
“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 while limiting their access to union representatives,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant in a statement.
The other union, University Professional Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119, represents 20,000 health care, research and technical workers. Its workers’ contract expired Oct. 31. The union said it plans to end its strike Friday.
UPTE said 98% of its members authorized the strike, which the union described as an effort to “defend our rights to advocate for our patients, research and students.”
The union also said it filed a 490-page charge in January with the California Public Employment Relations Board challenging UC’s new rules putting “unconscionable limits on both employee and union speech.”
AFSCME also said it filed an unfair labor charge against the university.
In response to the strikes, UC has accused both unions of spreading misinformation “rather than negotiating in good faith.”
In a statement before the strikes began, the university said it offered both unions meaningful wage increases, health care premium reductions and other offers to address the unions’ concerns.