Workers Stage 1-Day Statewide Strike at University of California Campuses and Hospitals

Members of a union representing research and technical workers walked picket lines Wednesday at University of California campuses and hospitals in a one-day strike amid a lengthening stretch of unsuccessful contract negotiations.

Some 10,000 members of University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America were expected to take part statewide, union spokesman Dan Russell said.

They perform jobs including running clinical trials, assisting in laboratory tests, managing classroom technology and caring for research animals.

"We have gone without any wage increases for virtually two years, for most of us at this point,"said Erin Brightwell, a speech pathologist at UCSF and a member of the union. "So it's quite frustrating, and I think a lot of workers are ready to do something that shows how committed they are to maintain the workforce, the quality of this institution, by having a skilled and stable workforce at the university."

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is again seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, was scheduled to lend support with a midday speech at the University of California, Los Angeles, where strikers wearing ponchos marched in rain.

Striking union marching near the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center on Wednesday. (Olivia Obineme/KQED)

The union and the University of California have been at odds since 2017 over issues including pay, health care premiums and retirement terms.

UC spokeswoman Claire Doan characterized the strike as "organized theatrics."

"Three disruptive strikes in less than one year come at a cost to everyone — patients, students and UC communities — while doing nothing to help unionized workers get closer to a contract and wage increases," Doan said in a statement.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 25,000 patient care technicians and services in the UC system, said members were joining UPTE in a sympathy strike.

Doan said agreeing to the unions' demands would cost the university system hundreds of millions of dollars over the life of the contracts and would be unfair to other UC employees.

Anges Suarez, a hospital service clerk at UCSF, and member of AFSCME-3299, leads a chant during the one-day walkout on Wednesday. “AFSCME has been bargaining for almost two years now," she said. "We’re here in solidarity with our UPTE brothers and sisters. Their fight is our fight." (Olivia Obineme/KQED)

Union officials characterized the strike as a protest of growing income inequality at the university.

"For over a year, the University of California has continued to ignore the well-founded concerns of the workers that make this the finest research institution in the world," Jamie McDole, president of UPTE-CWA Local 9119, said in a statement.

The UC system includes 10 campuses, five medical centers and three national laboratories. It has 190,000 faculty and staff and 238,000 students.

"Every single time we have a contract, we always go out on strike to push them harder," said Edgar Perez, who has worked as a surgical technician at UCSF for 20 years. A member of AFSCME, he joined the strike in a show of solidarity. "And this time they are really pushing us even more. But you know, we are willing to fight until we win. We're willing to fight until we get our fair contract."

KQED's Anna Sturla contributed to this article.

Workers Stage 1-Day Statewide Strike at University of California Campuses and Hospitals

Signed up.