On April 1, roughly 20,000 University of California workers went on strike for the third time this academic year. Those on strike included University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) from every UC campus, healthcare center, and large UC laboratories. The walkout follows UPTE’s filing of another unfair labor practices charge against UC and a March 19 announcement by UC President Michael Drake of a hiring freeze across the UC system.
The freeze has raised concerns, especially in counties that rely on the local campus as a major regional employer. UC Santa Barbara, for example, is the largest employer in Santa Barbara County, employing over 10,000 people.
In the preceding months, the UPTE union has accused the UC administration of a lack of action and transparency regarding vacant positions, of increasing staff healthcare premiums without appropriate consultation, and of engaging in “divide and conquer” bargaining practices, which union leaders say are intended to pit different groups of UC workers against each other.
A Growing Dispute Over Staffing Conditions at UC
One of the major items being protested by the April 1 walkout is what the union describes as inadequate staffing. Emergency room wait times at UC San Francisco have risen to an average of four hours and 18 minutes. Vacancy rates for mental health counseling and psychological services are now between 19% and 37% on seven of UC’s ten campuses, which union leaders say is leading to long delays in providing care for students with mental health needs.
“Students come to us for help navigating challenges like loss, mental health crises, substance use, assault, and more,” said Angie Bryan, a UC Santa Barbara behavioral health clinician, “and are often met with long wait times and difficulty receiving care.”
Research laboratories are also suffering staffing shortages. Chevelle Sleaford, a UCLA clinical research coordinator, says unfilled vacancies have a real-world impact beyond the campus. “As a cancer researcher, I know how high the stakes are,” Sleaford explained. “We need UC to prioritize patients, students, and the communities we serve.”
In hearings to address staffing issues at UC, Drake has shared that the UC system is “rolling over” thousands of unfilled positions from last year due to budgetary constraints. However, UPTE claims that the system administration has not yet disclosed accurate and current vacancy data by job classification, though they are legally obligated to do so. Union leaders also accuse UC of shifting union-represented staff positions into job titles that lack union representation.
A Contentious Bargaining Process
The walkout came after months of escalating tensions between the union and the administration. UPTE claims the UC system has failed to engage with recently unionized staff, including mental health clinicians.
“It’s frustrating that instead of engaging with us in a meaningful way to address the staffing crisis,” Bryan said, “UC is refusing to seriously consider proposals from the workers who support student mental health, or sincerely discuss any of the proposals that have been brought forth to address the staffing crisis that is rampant across the UC. Forcing newly-organized workers into their own separate bargaining tables is a trick to delay negotiations and demoralize workers, and does nothing to help students.”
However, the UC Office of the President has claimed that the unfair labor practices charge is based on “unsubstantiated allegations” and that union leaders “are not being forthright in their characterizations.” A statement released after UPTE’s announcement of an April 1 strike said that the UC system has been making frequent good-faith efforts to reach an agreement with UPTE and other unions across campus.
In the statement, the Office of the President shared, “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.”
Adding pressure, 16 state legislators have signed a letter expressing concern over disruptions to medical and mental health services caused by the strikes. The letter urges Drake to close the UPTE-UC negotiations and resolve the issues union leaders have raised.
