1000’s of College of California healthcare, analysis and technical workers voted to authorize a strike, citing what they described as systemic and ongoing staffing shortages that erode affected person care and damage analysis operations.
The strike authorization comes amid strained negotiations between the college and College Skilled and Technical Workers-CWA Native 9119, the union representing practically 20,000 workers in varied analysis labs and medical amenities throughout the 10-campus UC system.
The unionized employees embody nurse case managers, psychological well being counselors, optometrists, pharmacists, bodily therapists, medical researchers, IT analysts and animal well being technicians.
The union stated it’s planning a three-day strike starting Feb. 26.
A strike might have an effect on operations at hospitals and clinics in addition to analysis on the UC on most cancers, meals security, virology, local weather change and different points. Amongst union members are lab technicians at a UC Davis lab to trace and forestall chook flu because it spreads via cattle herds.
The union, often called UPTE, stated it referred to as for the strike vote as a result of the college has didn’t discount in good religion in negotiations that started final June. It accuses UC of unlawfully imposing “draconian” restrictions on the place employees can picket and retaliating in opposition to some workers at UC San Francisco who participated in a
Union officers stated the college has healthcare prices and has refused to have interaction meaningfully in dialogue of staffing vacancies in addition to issues with recruitment and promotions.
“We’re hoping this can ship a message to UC about our members being fed up with these unfair labor practices,” UPTE President Dan Russell stated in an announcement. “We hope this can produce a change in UC’s habits.”
Union members voted overwhelmingly in assist of the strike authorization — with 98% voting in favor — the union stated Friday. The union declined to offer a depend of whole votes forged, though a minimum of 9,000 votes have been submitted within the first week.
For its half, the college denies that it faces a staffing disaster, and stated it has provided sturdy wages and advantages and accused UPTE of prematurely leaving the bargaining desk.
“It’s disheartening that UPTE continues to speak about hanging and insisting UC come again to the bargaining desk once they didn’t present up for the final scheduled bargaining session after which declared negotiations have been at an deadlock earlier than responding to UC’s earlier presents,” UC spokesperson Heather Hansen stated in an e-mail.
Hansen stated UC “has been and stays able to settle these contracts.”
Within the occasion of a strike, Hansen stated that “the College [system] is ready to make each effort to make sure the crucial operations of the College system, which incorporates affected person care, proceed at a degree of excellence that UC sufferers, college students, college, and workers anticipate.”
The college a 5% across-the-board pay enhance starting July 1 and a 3% wage enhance the second and third years of the contract. It additionally provided to boost all lower-paid workers to pay of a minimum of $25 an hour by July 1.
The union contends the pay supply is decrease than wages the college has agreed to for different workers reminiscent of nurses, and would depart UPTE-represented employees battling ballooning bills on account of inflation.
A number of employees in interviews cited excessive workloads and burnout as causes for voting to approve a strike.
Amelia Cutten, 40, a behavioral well being counselor at UC Santa Cruz, stated she and a couple of dozen different counselors and psychologists on the Cowell Scholar Well being Heart wrestle to maintain up with giant caseloads.
“It’s actually onerous after we are attempting to do our work and serve college students who’re coming to us at actually crucial occasions,” Cutten stated. “We wish our college students to have one of the best care.”
Maryam Azizadah, a medical analysis coordinator assistant at UCLA working with most cancers sufferers, stated that her job requires a excessive degree of consideration and experience to grasp finicky protocols of assorted medical trials. She described juggling requests, dashing to order tissue samples to find out eligibility for some 70 sufferers at a time.
“I felt overwhelmed by the barrage of emails and requests and obligations, and I simply couldn’t do all of it,” Azizadah stated. “I discovered myself making these errors and lacking emails as a result of I used to be one individual doing the job of two folks and I felt actually responsible.”
