UC Service Workers Strike, Saying Wages Aren’t Enough to Afford Cost of Living

Tens of thousands of University of California workers began a two-day strike on Monday as yearslong negotiations with the university system over wages and benefits remain stalled.

Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents more than 40,000 custodians, food service workers, patient care assistants and hospital technicians, said wage increases haven’t kept up with the cost of living as employees’ health care costs have skyrocketed, making it nearly impossible to make ends meet.

“There’s an affordability crisis that is crushing UC’s most vulnerable workers, workers that UC once called heroes during the pandemic,” said Carmen Lee, a UCSF transportation worker. “I feel completely disrespected.”

UCSF Health said in a statement that it did not expect significant disruptions to essential operations thanks to contingency plans, although radiology and lab services could still see delays, along with transportation and custodial services across the system.

Negotiations between AFSCME and the UC, which began in January 2024, have been deadlocked since April, when the university presented a “best and final” offer that was far from the union’s demands.

The five-year contract proposal includes a 5% wage increase in 2025; 4% in 2026; and 3% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. AFSCME has asked for increases of 8.5% this year and 7.5% in each of the next two years, citing post-pandemic inflation, rising cost of living and increasing health care premiums.

“I used to bring home six bags of groceries to feed my family. … I had to give that up,” Lee said. “My health care went up $200. With the low wage that they’ve imposed on us so far, I’m not going to be able to afford that health care. I should be able to live and thrive in the city that I grew up in and raised my two sons in.”

Todd Stenhouse, AFSCME’s statewide spokesperson, said union members are making at least 7% less than they did seven years ago when accounting for the rising cost of living. That’s forcing people to move farther from their workplaces, including as far as El Dorado County, north of Sacramento, or crowd into homes and apartments that aren’t large enough for their families.

“In the last three years, a third of [AFSCME members] have voluntarily left their jobs. Why? Because they can’t afford to stay,” he said.

In April, the university increased its best and final offer to make up for “potentially catastrophic state and federal funding cuts,” UC Associate Vice President for Systemwide Labor and Employee Relations Missy Matella said.

The UC said its offer was $113 million higher than its initial offer in February 2024, and meets the union’s demand to raise minimum wage to $25 an hour. AFSCME had asked that the wage hike be retroactive to 2023. It was implemented in July.

The university also implemented terms from its offer to add monthly health insurance premium credits up to $125 to reduce costs for Kaiser and UC Blue and Gold HMO enrollees. Under its offer, some employees could have access to $0 premiums.

Still, Joanna Marie Fernandez, who’s been an ophthalmic technician at UCSF for 11 years, said the deal doesn’t keep up with rising insurance and housing costs. At the same time, she said, she and her colleagues have had to take on more work because they are understaffed.

“We have double-booked, triple-booked patients in our clinic,” she told KQED. “I came out here [to UC] because of these incredible doctors, this incredible institution, and the thing is, we’re not even able to take care of our own health.”

This month, two other bargaining groups have come to agreements with the UC.

“These outcomes show that UC can and has quickly closed deals when both parties actively participate in solutions-oriented bargaining,” the university said in a statement. “Despite UC’s continued outreach, AFSCME has not presented any substantive counterproposals since April 2025. Absent AFSCME’s engagement, the University cannot engage in meaningful negotiations for this critical workforce.”

On Nov. 8, UPTE-CWA, which represents 21,000 research and technical professionals across the UC, announced a tentative deal with the university, prompting them to pull out of Monday’s strike.

And over the weekend, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which had planned a sympathy strike with AFSCME, also came to a tentative agreement.

UC nurses will vote on the tentative agreement this week, and thousands said they still planned to join picket lines off duty.

Stenhouse said it’s telling that AFSCME workers, who are some of the UC’s lowest-paid, are still negotiating.

“It says a lot that as we’re here today after a week where we saw two contracts settle, the most economically vulnerable workers are the last ones standing,” he said.

KQED’s Ezra David Romero contributed to this report.