UC San Diego workers join statewide 1-day UC strike, demand better pay, staffing

Roughly 11,000 service and patient care workers at the UC San Diego campus and medical facilities are taking part in a one-day, statewide strike on Tuesday.

For the second time in just a little over a month, tens of thousands of University of California workers represented by a pair of unions went on strike Tuesday amid continuing contract negotiations.

The workers are represented by University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299.

The unions' contracts expired last year. They say they have been unable to negotiate new deals because the University of California has been engaging in unfair labor practices (ULP).

One of their newest ULP claims is that the University of California as been using a “divide and conquer” strategy by forcing newly organized groups of workers into their own separate negotiation process. The unions have also accused the the school system of using intimidation tactics to silence workers who raise concerns about staffing issues.

Nora Mitchell is a Behavioral Health Counselor III represented by UPTE. She works on the college mental health team and said there is an ongoing issue with retention and recruitment.

“On my team, we’ve had to operate six months down a mental-health clinician, which led to a ballooning of our waitlist,” Mitchell said. “If there’s that long of a wait time, they can have an increase in symptoms. They can have poor outcomes with grades. They can lose that momentum that gives them the willingness and vulnerability to seek treatment."

Pharmacy tech Thaine Ross said he, too, has been impacted by staffing shortages.

“There’s definitely been a hiring crisis," Ross said. "It’s really hard to keep good people here at UC."

UC officials issued a statement accusing the unions of spreading misinformation and failing to negotiate in good faith.

“We have met with AFSCME and UPTE for months to try to settle these contracts, offering generous wage increases, monthly credits to reduce health care expenses for lower-wage earners, expanded sick leave and improved ability to schedule vacation time. We’ve offered these early in negotiations, more than a year ago for AFSCME, and eight months ago to UPTE, to try to encourage contract closure and avert unnecessary disruptions like these.

“More importantly, our proposals have been designed to specifically address the top priorities that union members have identified as most important. These strikes cost the university system millions of dollars at a time when federal and state funding is uncertain.

“UPTE and AFSCME are not being forthright in their characterizations, which is upsetting since we've made sincere efforts to find mutually beneficial solutions. Regardless, we are hopeful AFSCME and UPTE will make meaningful efforts to settle these contracts soon.”

In a separate statement, UC San Diego Health said it has plans in place to minimize the impact to patients, going on to say, in part, “Delivering outstanding patient care remains the top priority at UC San Diego Health. Patients can rest assured that their care teams will be present to provide care.” 

“Luckily for us, we have so many great people that we always put our patients first,” Ross said. “So, our patients probably don’t notice much of a difference, but the rest of us are left to pick up the pieces.”